Iranian media reports that the country is strengthening its air defence capabilities by deploying long-range combat drones armed with air-to-air missiles.
According to reports from the official Iranian news agency IRNA, tens of ‘Karar’ drones that are armed with air-to-air missiles have been added to the air defence system in all of the country’s border regions.
These drones were shown to the public during a ceremony broadcast on television this morning at a military academy in Tehran.
During the ceremony to induct dozens of UAVs, Amir Alireza Sabahifard, the Army’s Air Defence Force commander, announced that these UAVs will be deployed to various national defence locations and integrated into the Air Defence Force’s combat capabilities.
Because Iranian forces have gotten more formidable, the Chief Commander of the Iranian Armed Forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi, emphasised that Iran’s adversaries need to rethink their plans.
According to the Islamic Republic of IRNA, the “Karar” interceptor drone, the first version introduced as early as 2010, is armed with “Majid” missiles with a range of 8 km and manufactured wholly in Iran. During the military drills in October, it could pass operational tests successfully. The cost of the new capability is significantly lower than that of the combat aircraft.
These drones can potentially be launched from the sea by Iran and used to target other drones. Iran may employ this drone to fly across the ocean before attacking the hostile drone with the drone missile. This represents an additional option for Iran to counter foreign drones.
The United States of America has accused Iran of providing drones to its friends in the Middle East, more notably to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Iran has been accused of providing Russia with drones to carry out operations in Ukraine. Tehran has acknowledged that it has delivered drones to Russia, but it has emphasised that these transfers were undertaken before the Russian offensive.
During the 1980s, when Iran was engaged in a war with Iraq, the country started manufacturing drones and other types of UAVs.
