Iran unveils new drone, here's a look at its performance

Recently, the Iranian Ministry of Defense launched a new domestically produced drone, the Mirage-10, and announced that the drone uses fully autonomous technology, has higher stealth capabilities and a larger combat radius. So, how does the drone perform? What is Iran's drone research and development capabilities?

The Persian "God of Death" appears in the world

Compared with Iran's current models, the Mirage-10 has enhanced range, payload and other performance. From the photos released by Iranian media, it can be seen that the drone is very similar to the US MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and strike drone, so it can be inferred that its performance and positioning are also very similar.

According to media reports, the Mirage-10 has a maximum speed of 210 kilometers per hour, a flight time of up to 24 hours, a range of 2,000 kilometers, and a flight altitude of up to 7,300 meters. The drone uses a high-aspect-ratio straight lower wing similar to the MQ-9, with a V-shaped tail and ventral fin at the tail, and a slender fuselage. There is an upward-protruding fairing on the upper part of the nose, and an optoelectronic turret is equipped under the nose. The engine is installed at the rear of the fuselage, driving a three-blade pusher propeller.

Mirage-10

The drone uses a wheeled front three-point landing gear and uses a ground runway taxiing take-off and landing method, and has the ability to take off and land autonomously. There are two external attachment points under each wing, and a composite pylon can be used to mount 4 to 6 ammunition weighing a total of 300 kilograms, including air-to-ground missiles and laser-guided bombs. The drone is also equipped with advanced electronic warfare and reconnaissance systems, but the Iranian military has not yet announced the specific technical indicators of the drone.

In fact, this is already the second model launched by Iran that resembles the US MQ-9 Reaper drone. In February 2022, Iran showed the outside world a reconnaissance and strike drone called "Kaman"-22. According to information released by Iran, the drone is 6.5 meters long, 2.5 meters high, has a wingspan of 17 meters, a flight speed of 240 kilometers per hour, a range of 3,000 kilometers, and a flight altitude of 8,000 meters. The drone has three external attachment points under each of the left and right wings, and one attachment point under the belly. It can carry more than 20 payloads including auxiliary fuel tanks, electronic warfare pods, cruise missiles and air-to-ground missiles. The drone uses a non-retractable wheeled landing gear, so its stealth performance will be affected.

Imitation + self-development to break new ground

Although it is not clear whether there is a "bloodline" relationship between the Mirage-10 and the Kaman-22, or whether they are a basic model and an improved model, it is an indisputable fact that both are almost copies of the US MQ-9 Reaper drone.

MQ-9 is a medium-altitude, long-endurance reconnaissance and strike drone developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in the United States in 1998. It is also one of the drones with the most actual combat experience in the world, and has carried out thousands of "targeted elimination" missions. In addition, the United States has repeatedly sent MQ-9 to the Middle East to perform surveillance and reconnaissance missions, but it has also been shot down by local armed groups several times and failed.

In November 2018, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force claimed that he had successfully "captured" an American MQ-9 drone. Shortly thereafter, Iran launched the Kaman-22 reconnaissance and strike drone, which "copied" the MQ-9 almost perfectly. The Mirage-10 is even closer to the MQ-9 in terms of details.

However, due to technological blockades and gaps, Iran's two types of drones can only be "similar in spirit", and their performance is not comparable to that of the MQ-9.

The MQ-9 is 10.82 meters long, 3.81 meters high, with a wingspan of 20.12 meters, a maximum take-off weight of 4,763 kilograms, a mission payload of 1,747 kilograms, a maximum level flight speed of 440 kilometers per hour, a maximum flight altitude of more than 15,240 meters, and a flight time of more than 30 hours. The MQ-9 has three hanging points on each of its left and right wings, and can carry up to 16 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, as well as GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, and GBU-38 joint direct attack munitions.

Although it has been repeatedly criticized by some countries, Iran seems to have found a shortcut to "overtaking on a curve". Instead of relying on its own weak R&D capabilities and working hard, it is better to "borrow" a lot of mature models from other drone powers and take the development route of "imitation as the main and independence as the supplement".

Since 2011, Iran has copied the Witness-171 based on the US RQ-170 stealth drone, the Witness-129/149 based on the US MQ-1 Predator drone, and the Mirage-4 based on the Israeli Seeker drone. At the same time, Iran has also adopted a large number of civilian technologies and commercial products to significantly reduce the production cost of drones.

Starting from the Islamic Revolution in 1979, after decades of development, Iran has established a relatively complete UAV research and development, production and combat system. The UAV models have developed from scratch, from the initial reconnaissance type to the current reconnaissance and strike type. Through multiple actual combat applications, Iranian UAVs have won a good reputation for themselves and have been exported to many countries, becoming one of the important members of the world's UAV family that cannot be ignored. (Author: Yang Huijun)