By akademiotoelektronik, 24/04/2022

Iran is developing the Ababil-T, a stealth attack drone with a range of 2,000 km.

Iranian Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi warned Sunday, October 28, in Tehran, that: “The drone was certainly not the latest Iranian technology”. Debkafile: He wanted to talk about the drone that Iran and Hezbollah launched over Israeli airspace on October 6, to emphasize that it was not their last word on weapons unmanned – or even the last that would be able to invade Israeli skies.

According to our military sources, in mid-September, Tehran secretly transferred by boat to Lebanon a full batch of disassembled parts of the Ababil-T drone, although the Iranians cannot be sure that Israel does not discover their whereabouts and that its air force bomb them before it is launched. The Syrian war also makes it difficult to permanently maintain launch teams in Lebanon.

However, Iran is taking a big step by producing drones with better capabilities and longer range. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah launched an earlier model of the Ababil, with a view to bombing Tel Aviv. He was shot down by the Israeli Air Force. Since then, the Iranians have produced the more advanced Ababil-T for short and medium range attacks and the Ababils B and S.

Our military sources identify the Ababil-T as the most advanced Iranian drone in operational service. It has know-how in electronic warfare, military intelligence collection and online transmission capabilities, adapted to front-line combat conditions. It is designed to neutralize enemy electronic systems in combat, particularly those of the United States and Israel.

Ababil means “Swallow”, according to the Quranic story that an enemy had sent a herd of elephants to attack the Qa'aba in Mecca, and that a swarm of swallows sent by Allah brought about their defeat.

Its prototype had a maximum flight range of 150 km, at a maximum altitude of 4.2 km and it could stay in the air for 10 hours straight. Iranian engineers quickly improved its velocity and range. But until very recently, we did not know how to calculate how to produce a rone capable of covering the distance to Israel in direct flight, without a stopover in Lebanon. They dared not let their precious Ababil-T cut through Iraq or Turkey, because it would risk being intercepted by US or NATO forces stationed there.

This obstacle seems to have been overcome by the last perfected Ababil, according to General Vahidi.

Indeed, a week before he was to speak, on October 17, Manouchehr Manteqi, Iran's aerospace industry chief, announced that Tehran now had drones capable of flying over a distance of 2,000 km - and, therefore, to reach Israel.

Iran plans to stockpile the supply of these advanced models in Lebanon for use by Hezbollah — and not just against Israel, but to extend its reach against a full panoply of Tehran's enemies — before flying them to return to their bases inside Iran.

Iranian sources claim that the latest drone model was tested under combat conditions in November 2011. An unmanned aircraft was secretly launched over the US Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf, gathered information and gained high value experience for its further development.

They have now progressed through the planning stages of a spy drone with stealth qualities and an unmanned bomber plane, cannibalizing hacked technology from the US Sentinel RQ-170 Drone they have hijacked and shot on December 4, 2011, buying parts from Russia and China and stealing the rest from the West. Most of their unmanned aerial development program budget is spent improving the navigation, communications and cyber warfare systems of their drones.

The immense progress that Iran has managed to achieve over the past five years in all these areas has benefited from the constant help of Iranian students who have returned to the country after studying at MIT and other universities, in the United States, Great Britain and Germany. They are offered attractive salaries for working hard towards achieving the goals set for them.

http://lessakele.over-blog.fr/article-l-iran-developpe-l-ababil-t-un-drone-furtif-d-entrée-d-une-portee-de-2000-kms-111865502. html lessakele

http://www.debka.com/article/22483/Iran-develops-Ababil-T-%E2%80%93-a-2-000-km-range-stealth-attack-drone

DEBKAfile Exclusive ReportOctober 29, 2012, 9:57 AM (GMT+02:00)