Tehran heats up arms race with 'suicide' drone
Arab News - 28 December, 2014
http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=731971&news_type=Top&lang=en

Iran's army said Saturday it has deployed a suicide drone for the first time
in massive ongoing military drills near the strategic Strait of Hormuz at
the entrance to the Arabian Gulf.

Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the army’s chief commander of ground forces,
described the unmanned aircraft as a “mobile bomb,” according to state
media, which said the aerial device is designed to strike air, ground and
naval targets.

He did not provide the name of the drone. The conservative Kayhan daily
referred to it as the Yasir, while an online news website called it the
Raad. Officials could not be reached for comment.

The Yasir drone, first unveiled last year, can fly for up to 10 hours and
carry out 360-degree imaging, officials said at the time. Western military
analysts say the Yasir is a modified version of the American ScanEagle
drone. Iran said in December 2012 that it had seized at least three
Boeing-designed ScanEagle drones after they allegedly violated its airspace
over the Gulf.

Iran is believed to have produced its own remotely piloted suicide drone,
the Raad-85, which is designed to crash into targets and set off its
warhead.

The six-day military exercise is being carried out over 527,000 square km
near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which one-fifth of the
world’s oil supply passes.

Iran frequently touts advances in its homegrown aerospace industries. It
says its most advanced drone, the Shahed-129, can reach much of the Middle
East, including Israel.

The drone is said to have a range of 1,700 km and a 24-hour flight
capability, and can carry eight bombs or missiles capable of hitting both
stationary and moving targets.