Iranian Army unveils underground drone facility.

As reported by UAS Vision, the Iranian state television on May 29 broadcasted footage of an air force base for drones under the Zagros mountain range, in the west of the country. The exact location of the base was not revealed, although the TV reporter said he traveled on a helicopter for nearly 40 minutes from the city of Kermanshah to reach it.

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 The Iranian State TV said 100 drones were being kept in the heart of the Zagros mountain (Picture source: Iranian State TV)

The Iranian State TV said 100 drones were being kept in the heart of the Zagros mountains, including Ababil-5, which it said were fitted with Qaem-9 missiles, an Iranian-made version of the U.S. air-to-surface Hellfire missile. The secret drone facility of the Iranian Army is built 100 meters under the ground.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri and Army Commander-in-chief Major General Seyed Abdolrahim Mousavi were present at the unveiling ceremony. Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony, the Army chief said: “You are seeing some of the capabilities that are equipped with all kinds of domestic Iranian warfare and equipment here. Our greatest achievement is that we are not dependent on any country and we provide everything we need to defend the country and carry out missions, and in no way the upgrade of our combat capability, including the upgrade of drone capability, is stoppable,” Mousavi noted, adding “A variety of drones are currently conducting missions in the armed forces, including the army. From the smallest drones to the largest, which is named ‘Kaman 22’. Each of these drones have a variety of missions. For local, tactical and strategic missions, we need a variety of reconnaissance, combat, destroying, scramble, and other types of drones that can perform the missions,” Mousavi elaborated.

The need to strengthen long-range drones with high flight continuity and great capability to carry heavy ammunition to hit strategic targets caused Iran to put upgrading the capabilities of existing drones and equipping them with missiles and bombs with different ranges on the agenda, he stated.

 The Iranian State TV said 100 drones were being kept in the heart of the Zagros mountain (Picture source: Iranian State TV)

Heidar-2, Iran’s UAV which can be launched from a helicopter (Picture source: Iranian State TV)

The Fotros is a reconnaissance, surveillance and combat UAV built by Iran Aviation Industries Organization and unveiled in November 2013. It is the largest Iranian drone, and depending on armament, has an operational range of 1,700 km to 2,000 km with a flight endurance of 16 to 30 hours. The name refers to a fallen angel in Shia mythology who was redeemed by Imam Husayn ibn Ali (Picture source: Iranian State TV)