Tel Aviv: Iranian UAV industry is continuing to create very surprising situations in different parts of the world. While Russia is buying hundreds of Iranian made UAV for its war in Ukraine, Tehran established a UAV division in the Indian ocean.
The Iran Navy announced Friday, July 15 the launch of its first drone division in the Indian Ocean during US President Joe Biden’s Middle East tour. According to Iran International website, the first UAV carrier flotilla of Iran’s Army, comprised of surface and subsurface units equipped with various types of combat, reconnaissance and kamikaze UAVs, was unveiled by the southern fleet of the Navy in a ceremony attended by Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi and Commander of the Iranian Navy Commodore Shahram Irani.
According to state media, the UAV’s that were displayed included the Pelican, Arash, Homa, Chamrosh, Jubin, Ababil-4 and Bavar-5, but it was not clear how many UAV’s were included in each unit, only that one ship carried 50 UAVs.
Mousavi said the reconnaissance UAVs have increased the intelligence sway of Iran’s vessels to hundreds of kilometres beyond the borders of the country, adding that the Navy’s suicide and combat UAV’s have levelled up Iran’s deterrence power. Iran is known to have supplied UAVs to its proxies in several countries across the Middle East.
Israeli experts said that the Iranian UAV industry grew very fast because unlike the heavy industry needed to make nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, UAVs often rely on commercial components that can be purchased even online. The Israeli sources also said that some of the Iranian UAV’s have been manufactured based on reverse engineering, of American and Israel UAV’s that have been shot down in and the Iranian UAV industry is spreading to other countries.
In May, 2017, the Iranian press reported on the inauguration ceremony of a UAV factory that was established In Tajikistan. Israeli defence sources said that this plant is currently producing older models of the Iranian “Ababail” UAV. On May 28, 2022, Iran unveiled an underground UAV base, at undisclosed location.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
