Iranian UAVs more advanced than US ScanEagle drones, general says

“The technology used in the ScanEagle is very old and our UAVs are much more advanced than them,” IRNA quoted Brigadier General Hossein Salami as saying on Tuesday.

“Iran can be considered one of the leading [UAV manufacturing] countries” with its “stealth, very long-range, and accurate UAVs,” Salami added.

Commenting on the ScanEagle drone, which the IRGC captured after it entered the country’s airspace over the waters of the Persian Gulf, the senior Iranian commander said, “IRGC forces have the technology to respond to any act of aggression and to bring down and take control of such encroaching aircraft.”

On December 4, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced that the drone had been captured a few days before.

On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the Islamic Republic would take legal action against the United States at international courts for violating its airspace over the Persian Gulf.

The IRGC announced on December 5 that it had “fully extracted” data from the captured aircraft, which is a long-endurance aircraft manufactured by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

On Monday, Fadavi said Iran had launched a production line for the manufacture of ScanEagle-type drones.

In November 2012, Iran announced that it would unveil the world’s first vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone on January 31, 2013, which is the first day of the Ten-Day Dawn, which is a celebration commemorating the 34th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

In September 2012, Iran unveiled the Shahed 129, a new domestically manufactured UAV with 24-hour nonstop flight capability.

The Karrar -- the first Iranian long-range drone with bombing and reconnaissance capabilities -- was unveiled in August 2010.

On December 4, 2011, the Islamic Republic announced that an electronic warfare unit of the Iranian armed forces had taken control of the navigation system of a US RQ-170 spy drone, which was flying over the northeastern Iranian city of Kashmar, and had forced it to land in Iranian territory.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in the defense sector and has attained self-sufficiency in the production of essential military hardware and defense systems.