TEHRAN – The defense ministry of Iran has unveiled a new strike drone with pinpoint accuracy and a point defense system used against aerial targets.
The new weapons were unveiled during a visit by speaker of the Iranian parliament Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf to an exhibition of products developed by the defense ministry.
The new strike drone with pinpoint accuracy is a cruise UAV called Ababil.
It is equipped with an optical seeker and a warhead capable of detecting various targets. The cruise drone’s detection system can point at a target and then lock on it, allowing the weapon to detonate the ground targets with pinpoint accuracy.
The other product unveiled in the exhibition was a point defense system for the protection of vessels.
The system, named after Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, is used for the defense of a vessel against aerial targets at low altitudes.
The point defense weapon is furnished with two missiles with heat seekers and a Gatling cannon.
In February, the defense minister of Iran unveiled plans to boost the country’s drone capabilities and diversify the utilities of the UAVs used by the military forces.
Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere.
Last week, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Iran has become an exporter of military drones and that the Islamic Republic holds the upper hand in the field defensive aerospace technology.
“In the military field, we did not have, in the past, the capabilities that we enjoy today. In the past, we imported barbed wire, but now we export drones,” Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Division said.
Last month, Iran’s navy incorporated a special division tasked with transporting and operating various drones.