Iran to unveil new unmanned aircraft

Mehdi Iraji, the aeronautics engineer in charge of the project, said on Sunday that the new remote-controlled aircraft, called A1, has a maximum flight ceiling of 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). It is capable of traveling for at least two hours, and can carry a 5-kilogram (11-pound) payload.

He added that the unmanned aircraft is also equipped with sound, chemicals and color recognition systems, as well as other sensors. Iraji noted that the drone runs on hi-octane gas, mixed with a percentage of oil.

Over the past years, Iran has developed a number of variants of the domestically-designed remotely-piloted Ababil aircraft, including the tactical Ababil-5 for medium-range reconnaissance and surveillance missions, the Ababil-T for short/medium-range attack missions, and also the Ababil-B and -S.

The Iranian-made UAV is powered by a two-bladed pusher propeller, and can be launched from either a rail mounted on the back of a truck or by a rocket launcher system on a ship.

Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting in the capital, Tehran, on January 29, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said the Islamic Republic will soon unveil a new domestically-manufactured naval surveillance plane.

The new domestically-built maritime patrol plane remotely piloted has high flight duration, enabling it to keep maritime areas under surveillance via optical and radar subsystems.

The modern surveillance aircraft also has the capacity to load and upload military hardware and can conduct better reconnaissance missions.

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

Iran has repeatedly assured other nations, especially regional neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.
press tv/281