Despite the international sanctions, Iran did manage to develop and set up the serial production of multiple types of UAVs.
Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center is an Iranian aerospace company known for designing military helicopters and UAVs. They are associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force (IRGC-ASF) and the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Corporation (HESA).
#1 Shahed 121
Shahed 121 is an Iranian drone manufactured by Shahed Aviation. It was first spotted during the IRGC's "Great Prophet" exercise in the summer of 2012. The Shahed 121 is part of a large family of reconnaissance and strike drones, which includes the Shahed 125 and Shahed 129.
Shahed 121 was next spotted in 2016 flying over the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in international airspace. The US Navy considered this a brazen security breach, which had not been seen since 2014. The incident occurred after the nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers, including the United States. A US Navy Seahawk helicopter filmed the incident. The Iranian authorities considered the flight of Shahed 121 to be safe, as all of its wings were "clean," meaning that the drone did not carry any weapons on board and did not pose a threat to ships. However, the U.S. Navy's high command called the incident "abnormal" and "unprofessional."
#2 Shahed 129
The Shahed 129 is a modern Iranian single-engine medium-altitude, long-range combat UAV that was officially introduced by the IRGC in 2013. It is known that this UAV exists in three modifications. The first modification was based on the Israeli Hermes-450 UAV. The second version of the drone is considered to be a modified and localized version of the American MQ-1 Predator. The third, or naval version of the Shahed-129, Simorgh, is specially designed and optimized for use in Iranian Navy units and is a descendant of the first generation UAV.
This drone is controlled by a mobile ground control station that can be mounted on a trailer or truck. It can also use satellite communications. As for weapons, the drone can carry eight bombs or four missiles.
The Shahed 129 is capable of continuous reconnaissance and combat operations for 24 hours and has a range of up to 1700 km.
#3 Shahed 149
On May 21, 2021, Iran's IRGC unveiled its new super-heavy wide-body combat reconnaissance drone called "Gaza" (Shahed-149). In April 2022, the drone underwent flight tests and was adopted into service the same month. This drone is very similar to the American MQ-9 Reaper drone and is similar to it in terms of the concept of use. The Shahed-149 drone is capable of carrying 13 bombs and 500 kilograms of equipment, has a flight time of 35 hours and a range of up to 2000 km. With such an arsenal, this UAV is capable of conducting a variety of combat and reconnaissance operations, which significantly expands Iran's military potential in the region and is the country's application for more advanced aircraft construction.
#4 Shahed 131
Shahed 131, also known as Geranium-1 in Russian use, is an Iranian-made drone that gained prominence in October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Shahed 131 was first spotted in the Arabian Peninsula when the Houthis used it to attack targets in Saudi Arabia. The Shahed 131 is a kamikaze drone equipped with a Wankel engine of the Shahed-783/7881 model.
Visually, it is distinguished from the Shahed-136 by the presence of vertical stabilizers that extend only upward from the wingtips. The Shahed 131 is slightly smaller than the Shahed-136, with a wingspan of 2.2 m and a length of 2.6 m. The Shahed-131's flight control unit can connect to Iridium communication satellites, which theoretically allows it to change its route during flight, but this possibility is unconfirmed. Usually, the drone receives instructions from a civilian GPS system. The price of the Shahed 131 is estimated at over $20,000.
#5 Shahed 136
The Shahed-136, also known as the Geranium-2 in Russian service, is an Iranian-made drone that is a kind of evolution of the Shahed-131. The first public footage of the drone was released in December 2021. The UAV is launched at a slight upward angle using a rocket booster. The accelerator is reset immediately after launch, after which a conventional four-cylinder piston engine Mado MD-550 made in Iran (possibly the German Limbach L550E, which was reproduced by reverse engineering) starts working. The targeting system is generally identical to the previous drone, but in December 2023, wreckage of downed drones with SIM cards and 4G modems used in mobile phones were found.
#6 Shahed 238
Ukraine's Armed Forces managed to destroy an Iranian-made Shahed-238 barrage munition that Russia used during one of its UAV attacks on Ukraine in January 2024. The wreckage, which had previously raised doubts about whether it was indeed the latest version of the Shahed, was analyzed. The Ukrainian publication Defense Express analyzed the surviving part of the drone. The findings indicate that despite the sanctions, Iran still has access to a number of Western-made components. The drone's turbojet engine was identified as a TJ150 from the Czech company PBS Velká Bíteš. It has a maximum thrust of 1500 N and weighs 18.9 kg, with a diameter of 272 mm and a length of 518 mm. This engine provides the Shahed-238 with a cruising speed of about 500 km/h, which was recorded during the radar tracking of this drone. Apart from the engine, other components of this drone are similar to the previous members of the Iranian barrage munitions series.
#7 STEALTH DRONES
The Shahed 171 unmanned aerial vehicle and the entire Shahed stealth UAV branch are unmanned aerial vehicles based on the American RQ-170 drone. This branch includes five models of drones called Shahed 171, Shahed 181, Shahed 191, Shahed 161 and Shahed 141.
On December 4, 2011, the aerospace forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps managed to take control and capture an advanced American drone called the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel, as part of the operation called "Hunting the Beast from Kandahar".
The RQ-170 stealth drone entered Iranian airspace to gather information and intelligence, but the Iranian military managed to intercept its control and land the drone near the city of Bardaskan.
Thus, the Shahed-171 drone, nicknamed Simorgh, is a 100% scale version and is completely identical to the RQ-170 Sentinel. It uses the Toloue-14 turbofan engine. The Shahed-171 can stay in flight for up to 10 hours with a maximum range of 4400 km. The flight ceiling is 12 km (40 000 feet), the maximum takeoff weight is 3070 kg and the maximum speed is 460 km/h.
The Shahed-181 drone, also known as Saegheh (Lightning), is a 60% smaller version of the Shahed-171 drone. The Shahed 181 is a cheaper version of the drone: it was possible to lighten and reduce the cost of mass production because this drone has no landing gear and uses a piston engine. The Shahed-191 is 60% the same version of the Shahed-171, but equipped with a jet engine.
In addition to the previous three variants, there are two drones, the Shahed-141 and 161, both of which are 40% of the size of the Shahed 171.
To summarize, these UAVs have become a qualitative step in the development of the Iranian aviation industry.
