IRGC Aerospace Commander: U.S. Forced to Copy Shahed-136 Drone
TEHRAN — The United States has been forced to build a drone similar to Iran’s Shahed-136 under the name “Lukas,” the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force said.
Brig. Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi made the remarks in Khorramabad while discussing the role of Brig. Gen. Taherpour, a prominent commander in Iran’s drone program who was deployed to Syria during part of his service and took an active role in missions related to the “resistance front.”
Mousavi said drone forces played an important role in providing surveillance, establishing intelligence dominance and producing imagery of battlefields, citing former IRGC Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani as saying that many operations could not begin without accurate monitoring of the area and battlefield imagery.
He said overseas missions provided an important opportunity to improve the technical and operational experience of Iran’s drone forces, adding that Taherpour was among the pioneers who reached a level of technical and operational development that attracted the attention of IRGC Aerospace Force commanders.
Mousavi said self-sacrifice, readiness and improved capabilities are among the criteria considered in the development of drone personnel, adding that Taherpour demonstrated those qualities during his service.
Mousavi said Iran has developed various aircraft in the Shahed class, some designed for combat missions and others for surveillance and reconnaissance. He described the products as the result of the ideas and operational experience of young people working in the field.
Mousavi said Iran’s drone fleet had become an important component of the country’s defensive capabilities.
Referring to U.S. emulation of Iran’s drone capabilities, Mousavi said: “The Americans today have been forced to build an aircraft similar to the Shahed-136 under the name Lukas and introduce it as a weapon into their military organization.”
Mousavi also said Operation True Promise was a record-setting use of drones, carried out by the Aerospace Force, with Taherpour commanding the drone operation at that stage of the war.