New Drones Delivered To Iran's Army Have Attack, Reconnaissance, And Interception Capabilities

On January 23, 2024, Channel 1 (Iran) aired a report about "multitudes" of drones that were manufactured by Iran's Ministry of Defense and are being delivered to the Islamic Republic of Iran Army for use in its countrywide combat arrays. The drones – which include the Arash, Karrar, and Ababil-5 drones – have operational ranges of up to 1700 kilometers and can reportedly be used to carry out precision strikes, perform reconnaissance, or intercept hostile aircraft.

Anchorwoman: "Multitudes of upgraded UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] for combat, reconnaissance, destruction, and electronic warfare were delivered to the Army's combat arrays throughout the country. The operational radius of these UAVs is between 1,000 and 1,700 kilometers. In this footage, we can see the Minister of Defense and the Army's Commander-in-Chief inspecting a variety of UAVs, multitudes of combat "birds" which were built by the Ministry of Defense. They are being delivered to the army in order to increase our country's deterrence capabilities. Each of the UAVs joining our country's defensive fleet has unique characteristics.

"This is one of those UAVs. This is the Arashdrone, whose mission is to destroy. The missions of this Karrar drone include deception, destruction, and interception. When an enemy 'bird' insists on entering our country's airspace, the Karrar drone can [intercept it] with the Majid missile, making it disappear from the radar. But one of the most perfect drones is the Ababil-5."

Reporter: "Apart from its security, reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering, and electronic warfare capabilities, this 'bird' can engage in a dogfight using Almas missiles. In addition to the Almas missiles, which use solid fuel and have a visual and thermal seeker, the Ababil is equipped with the Qaem guided bomb. This bomb, used for destroying targets, has the lowest margin of error. This 'bird' has the capability to detect and follow targets at night. If necessary, the targets are destroyed in the darkness of the night."