Breaking news
Iran succesfully tests indigenous variant of US-made RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle.
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World
Defense & Security Industry News - Iran |
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| Iran succesfully tests indigenous variant of US-made RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle | |||
According
to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Iran carried out successful tests of
a drone based on the US-made aircraft that was captured in 2011, the chief
of the Revolutionary Guard's airspace division, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh,
told the IRNA.
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Iran-made variant of the American RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle |
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Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that the new drone is an Iranian version
of the American RQ-170 Sentinel that was manufactured using Stealth-technology.
According to the General, Iranian Air Defense forces managed to seize
the aircraft and land it with minimum damage. The drone was carrying out
intelligence collection flights 225 km from the border dividing Iran and
Afghanistan. RQ-179 Sentinel was manufactured by the US company Lockheed Marteen and was one of the most guarded aerial vehicles in service of the American Air Force. The US had been using this aircraft in Afghanistan since 2007, however, refused to admit its existence till late 2009. The exact technical characteristics of the UAV are still unknown. Only the information concerning special covering for the body of the aircraft that makes it impossible to detect by radars was confirmed. As estimated by Iran’s Ministry of Defense, the original US drone weighs from 3 to 3.6 tons. |
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