Iran unveils latest home-made drone, Ababil 3

Iran unveils latest home-made drone, Ababil 3

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

Ababil 3
Ababil 3

Iran has unveiled its latest domestically-manufactured state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which can be used in reconnaissance operations.

The Ababil 3 has a flight endurance of eight hours and effective operational radius of 250 kilometers.

According to Press TV, the UAV can fly at an altitude of 15,000 feet and transmit images simultaneously to ground control stations or any other platforms.

In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.

Unmanned systems conference 2014 – Israel

AUS&R ban_ 960x300

Last week, Iran put into operation a final version of the sophisticated US RQ-170 stealth aircraft, which was downed with minimal damage by the Iranian Armed Forces’ electronic warfare unit in December, 2011, while flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) from the Afghan border.

The domestically produced version of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made a successful maiden flight a few days ago the footage of which has just been released – including the following video:

Experts say that the “copy” of the US RQ-170 is no more than a “Plastic Drone” with very limited capabilities.