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Iran is becoming a drone superpower

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Dude, you are not winning or playing any game .. so relax, yes Iran is standing firm against the bullies and you guys have my Respect for that but Technologically Iran is nowhere near NATO or American Drone Technology . Even Turkey is ahead of you , Just because you have different kind of Drones with similar capabilities doesn't makes you Champion of it .

i get it i get it. but if you think US and Israel Technology that we have are worst then Turkey's with all do respect to Turkey then you are not looking hard enough.

be humble as well. our best wishes for your country because a war on Iran will affect Pakistan many folds than the damage and hurt we took from Afghan war (this is a selfish point of view) and then there is our brotherly relation bound by our faith and culture as well

but reality is .. that Israel and Americans are hell bent on hurting Iran and they are able to use Arab countries for their plans. the odds are really unfair.
Americans have moved the British to start the provocation. for now you are standing up. but lets not become too proud.
agreed
 
i get it i get it. but if you think US and Israel Technology that we have are worst then Turkey's with all do respect to Turkey then you are not looking hard enough.

I've said my piece, its up to you what you want to believe in .
 
brother i never said we are the 1 super power and i never will, i agree with you on that
you are on facing a tough crowd today
please dont get yourself dragged into sectarian or racist argument like many of us fall victim to.
I have not seen this news of drone falling in Pakistan on any reliable news source

it maybe true or not true but if its true I am sure we would have found out by now. I hope you didnt send this drone to harass my innocent brothers who get triggered by mere mention of Iran :)

if Iranians had started an invasion on some insecure Pakistani brothers who don't like Iranians on this forum much :)
 
Iran is quietly building up an arsenal of locally-produced drones that it is exporting to its allies in the region and testing against enemies in Iraq, Israel and Saudi Arabia. On July 10, Iranian drones reportedly were used to attack a Kurdish dissident group in northern Iraq, after Iran accused the group of killing members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian media said that a new IRGC drone unit was used during the attack, which comes three weeks after Iran downed a sophisticated American drone over the Gulf of Oman.

The Iranian drone threat is not confined to waters off Iran’s coast, or to neighboring states. It is becoming a regional threat against U.S. allies. Iran’s allies, from the Houthi rebels in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon, are benefiting from Iran’s technical drone know-how. For example, the U.S. believes that a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities was launched by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq in May.

Hezbollah, which has flown drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into Israel in past years, has improved its Iranian-supplied drones and now threatens that, in a future war, it would use them against Israel. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah bragged on July 12 that Hezbollah has new and sophisticated drones. Hezbollah first used the Mirsad UAV, which is based on an Iranian model similar to Iran’s Ababil and Mohajer drones.

In Yemen, the Houthi rebels have been launching drone attacks on Saudi Arabian airports near the Yemen border. Nine were injured in early July in Abha. The Houthis use a drone called a Qasef-2K, which is based on Iran’s Ababil T drone.

Taken as a whole, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, using drone technology from Tehran, represent a major stepping stone for Iran in its ability to threaten the U.S. and its allies. Iran’s drone technology also appears to be growing more sophisticated. Since the 1980s, Iran sought to build up a force of locally produced drones.

In January, Iran put on display a plethora of new UAVs. These included its Shahed-171 “stealth drone” with precision-guided missiles and its Kaman 12 drone, which supposedly can fly to a range of 200 kilometers for up to 10 hours, according to Iranian media. Some Iranian drones are basically reverse-engineered copies of American drones. The Iranian Saegheh and Shahed 171 are copies of the Sentinel RQ-170 Iran captured in 2011. The Shahed 129 is similar to the U.S. MQ-1 Predator.

Not all of Iran’s claims to build super long-range and stealth drones are accurate, but Tehran’s bragging is not a reason to scoff at its abilities. Not only has it shown that it can use drones — such as the attacks on Kurdish dissidents in Iraq and sending a drone into Israel in February 2018 — it has shown it can shoot down U.S. drones.

Iran wants to show off its drones, at home and abroad, to show it can get around U.S. sanctions and continue to develop this military capability. This is why, from January to July, Iran has been conducting drone exercises and has said that it even monitored the movements of a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington designated a terrorist organization, is spearheading these recent drone efforts.

The establishment of a special UAV unit and its use against Kurdish groups on July 10 show that the IRGC’s drone expertise can be easily linked to Iran’s role across the Middle East. The IRGC’s Quds Force has been behind Iranian UAVs sent to Syria during the civil war and to Iraq, according to 2018 testimony to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

In any future conflict with Iran that might involve the U.S. and its allies against Iran and its proxies, the drone threat will need to be addressed. It already is being confronted by Israel, Saudi Arabia and others. It is a clear symbol of Iran’s growing footprint across the Middle East, which stretches from Beirut to Damascus, Baghdad and Yemen via the Gulf of Oman.

Seth J. Frantzman is executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. A former assistant professor of American Studies at Al-Quds University, he covers the Middle East for The Jerusalem Post and is a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is the author of “After ISIS: How Defeating the Caliphate Changed the Middle East Forever.” Follow him on Twitter @sfrantzman.

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/453437-iran-is-becoming-a-drone-superpower
 
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