News By :
Nicolas von Kospoth
Managing Editor defence.professionals (defpro.com) GmbH
Iran’s new combat UAV, called Karrar. (Photo: IRNA)
It is no coincidence that, just as Iran prepares to load fuel rods into a nuclear reactor at its Bushehr plant, the Iranian president as well as high-ranking military officials made great efforts to emphasise their country’s military strength and repeatedly claimed that an attack by the US or Israel on installations of its allegedly peaceful nuclear programme would be very “unwise.” Next to the usual sabre-rattling rhetoric, which we have become used to during past years, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday unveiled a new long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
Not that Iran is unfamiliar with the use of unmanned aircraft – in fact, the country has been operating a number of different small and medium-sized tactical UAVs for several years. However, Iran claims the recently unveiled system, dubbed Karrar (Farsi for “Striker”), has been fully developed and manufactured by its national defence industry. According to different intelligence sources, Iran has been producing its own unmanned surveillance aircraft since the late 1980s and has, reportedly, provided the Hezbollah with such systems.
The country’s newest development in the field of UAVs, amongst other military solutions, was now presented to the public on the occasion of the Iranian Defence Industry Day, which was attended by Ahmadinejad as well as the Iranian Defence Minister, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.
Although no specific data has been released on its performance and capabilities, the 4-metre long UAV is believed to have a payload capacity sufficient to carry two 250-pound bombs or a precision 500 pound bomb. This will provide it with an attack capability, in addition to its tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) functions. According to the Defence Minister, it will have a range of approximately 1,000 kilometres, which Iran has also claimed for other UAV systems already operated by its military. The Defence Minister further explained that the aircraft is jet-propelled and is able to operate at high altitudes. So far, there have only been reports about the capability to carry bombs, rather than missiles.
Although the system is not likely to have a significant strategic impact (at least not in the scenarios of US and/or Israeli pre-emptive attacks against Iran, so far known), Ahmadinejad is convinced of its deterrence capabilities. According to news sources, he said the UAV’s goal is to “keep the enemy paralysed in its bases.” It is thus that the Iranian President emphasises the “defensive” nature of the new weapon system, at the same time labelling it an “ambassador of death”.
In the eyes of Ahmadinejad, it is another successful step within Iran’s military self-sufficiency programme, which aims to convince the “enemies of humanity” that any attack against the Iranian nation would be defeated. His peculiar self-confidence goes as far as offering friendship to the United States, provokingly saying that “there are no logical reasons for the United States to carry out such an act,” as they couldn’t even defeat a small force from Iraq.
Whether Iran would be capable of producing a fleet of armed UAVs that are large and capable enough to overcome modern air defences and truly endanger an enemy force remains to be seen. A far greater threat comes from Iran’s ballistic missiles. On Friday, Iran test-fired a new liquid fuel surface-to-surface missile, called Qiam-1, which is claimed to have an advanced guidance system. Its true precision and lethal capability, as that of most Iranian weapon systems, cannot be independently verified and remains within the realm of speculation.
Nevertheless, Iranian officials insist that their military is prepared to defend its territory. On Sunday, Vahidi told the Iranian news agency IRNA: “Indigenized hardware – amour and equipment – form part of our capabilities, of which the Iranian army is proud, in addition to the high morale of the combat troops.”
No comments:
Post a Comment