Iran Displays ScanEagle Drone in MAKS-2017 Exhibit

The exhibition is being held at the Ramenskoye aerodrome on July 18-23.

Several Iranian firms and three knowledge-based companies affiliated to the defense ministry participated in the exhibition and displayed their achievements.

Also, Iran displayed a model of its new home-made double-cockpit training jet, ‘Kowsar’, in the exhibition.

ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

As standard payload ScanEagle carries either an inertially stabilized electro-optical or an infrared camera. The gimbaled camera allows the operator to easily track both stationary and moving targets, providing real-time intelligence.

Capable of flying above 16,000 feet, the UAV has also demonstrated the ability to provide persistent low-altitude reconnaissance.

Iran in February 2013 aired images of a drone production line which was producing copies of the US ScanEagle UAVs.

The domestically-manufactured drones have been put into service by the Iranian Armed Forces.

In December 2012, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh had said that the recent capture of the US ScanEagle by the IRGC was nothing new as Iran had previously captured a similar drone and even copied it for production.

“ScanEagle had been in our possession before and we have even copied it in production,” General Hajizadeh underscored at the time.