How Iran's drones became a threat to the MidEast and world - analysis

• Published date: 14 April 2024
• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Iran has been investing in drones since the 1980s. It invested in drones, or what are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or remote-piloted aircraft, because Iran's air force suffered losses due to the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 and also due to the Iran-Iran war. Using cheap unmanned aircraft made sense for Iran during the war with Iraq because Iraq had better air defense systems and also had aircraft acquired from the Soviets

By contrast the Iranians were flying aircraft the Shah's regime had acquired from the United States, but these aircraft didn't always have replacement parts of enough trained pilots. Cheap drones can be used for missions that are considered dull, dirty and dangerous.

Iran's drone program consisted of simple drones in the beginning. These drones also came in several "families" built by various state-linked companies. They includes the Shahed family of drones and the Ababil. Iran modelled these drones on the types of drones it saw other countries using, such as the US Predator, or the Israeli Hermes and also other types of Israeli drones. Over time Iran realized that its drones, mostly used for surveillance, were not longer a weapon that allowed Iran to project the kind of power it wanted.

What Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps wanted was an instant air force. In the last decade Iran has increased its drone program exponentially. It began to invest in simple kamikaze drones, and this eventually led to the creation of the Shahed 136. The Shahed 136 is relatively simple in design, around 3.5 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width, with up to a 40kg warhead. It has a delta-wing design which may make it harder to detect from some radars. However in general what makes it successful is that it is easy to make and Iran has found success exporting them.

Iran moved Shahed 136 type drones to Yemen in late 2020 to be used by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Use of Iranian drones by Houthis

The Houthis had already been using...