Iran unveils home-built combat drone

Iran unveils its first domestically-manufactured long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in a ceremony marking Defense Industry Day in the country.

The unveiling of the home-made drone, named Karrar took place in the presence of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a number of defense officials.

The Karrar UAV is capable of carrying a military payload of rockets to carry out bombing missions against ground targets. It is also capable of flying long distances at a very high speed.

Iran’s defense industries have demonstrated spectacular progress in the recent year, launching numerous domestically-built armaments, including aerial and sea-borne military vehicles such as submarines, combat frigates, and various types of missiles.

Iran inaugurated the production line of two domistically-built UAVs with bombing and reconnaissance capabilities.

The two hi-tech drones named ‘Ra’d’ (Thunder) and ‘Nazir’ (Harbinger) are capable of performing long-range reconnaissance, patrolling, assault and bombing missions with high precision.

Ra’d, a UAV especially designed for assault and bombing missions, has the capability to destroy specific targets with high precision.

Tehran established an arms development program during the 1980-88 war that Iraq waged against Iran to counter the weapons embargo imposed on it by the US and its Western allies. Since 1992, Iran has manufactured its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Iran successfully tested a home-made radar-evading UAV with bombing capabilities in June 2009.

In 2008, the Islamic Republic’s Defense Industries launched production lines of two home-built fighter jets, namely Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) and Azarakhsh (Lightening).