Featured Iran unveils 'Gaza' UAV

[skyshadow]

Not necessarily if you can build external-internal weapons bay that can be attached to wing's hardpoints just to reduce RCS at the expense of some aerodynamic performance.

something like Kaman -22 ? yes that will work too

 

[WudangMaster]

 

[PeeD]

USA Replaced old predators with MQ-1C

So ...

True and they want to replace the MQ-9 with a flying wing drone. Costs don't matter much to them.

But Shahed-129 with its Rotax motor simply has extremely low operation costs, SAR and optical payloads.

Shahed-149 on the other hand has a turboprop = a turbine engine. Costs more and needs more and difficult maintenance.

Shahed-149 is Irans first drone that can do relatively heavy bombing (Karrar excluded). A fleet of them over Syria and Iraq in 2014 could have had great impact.

 

[imadul]

Is it real or a paint job???

 

[Aramagedon]

American valet mosquitoes get lost from our threads.

 

[Mohamed Bin Tughlaq]

Hahahah.. This is some absolute gold trolling by Iran

 

[SOHEIL]

Is it real or a paint job???

What do you mean by paint job?

 

[WudangMaster]

What do you mean by paint job?

Please don't dignify that question with any sort of follow up; it's obvious trolling and baiting into a flame war.

 

[TheImmortal]

True and they want to replace the MQ-9 with a flying wing drone. Costs don't matter much to them.

But Shahed-129 with its Rotax motor simply has extremely low operation costs, SAR and optical payloads.

Shahed-149 on the other hand has a turboprop = a turbine engine. Costs more and needs more and difficult maintenance.

Shahed-149 is Irans first drone that can do relatively heavy bombing (Karrar excluded). A fleet of them over Syria and Iraq in 2014 could have had great impact.

Exactly anyone thinking that Gaza drone is going to replace S-129 simply doesn’t understand Iran’s needs.

US needs heavy drones to bomb its various theaters it’s involved in. Iran on the other hand has little need at this time for such a drone. Exception being Syria war when Iran needed such firepower which does very well against rag tag terrorists with no air defense capability.

Even in the unveiling ceremony Gaza drone was accompanied by 3 S-129. A telling message.

It remains to be seen if this drone will be mass produced or will become like Fotros. Also I question the viability of GPS/GLONASS navigation during war time.

 

[SOHEIL]

Please don't dignify that question with any sort of follow up; it's obvious trolling and baiting into a flame war.

It's fun!

 

[PeeD]

Exactly anyone thinking that Gaza drone is going to replace S-129 simply doesn’t understand Iran’s needs.

US needs heavy drones to bomb its various theaters it’s involved in. Iran on the other hand has little need at this time for such a drone. Exception being Syria war when Iran needed such firepower which does very well against rag tag terrorists with no air defense capability.

Even in the unveiling ceremony Gaza drone was accompanied by 3 S-129. A telling message.

It remains to be seen if this drone will be mass produced or will become like Fotros. Also I question the viability of GPS/GLONASS navigation during war time.

It's a IRGC-ASF project, so it will surely be serial produced. But without an cheap Iranian turboprop, numbers won't go high.

S-149 is much better at carrying ammunition, so in the UCAV role 3 S-129 could scan a large area and request S-149 if anything needs to be bombed.
With 5 Sadids internal and 2 Iranian SDB-2 Balaban external, I could imagine S-149 to have 24h flight duration like S-129 with optical payload only.
In COIN warfare you need to have bombers on station at all times.

Such S-129/S-149 combos could also support each other to set up long-range communication links.

But Irans requirements for COIN warfare are low, primary concern are enemy states.

 

[TheImmortal]

It's a IRGC-ASF project, so it will surely be serial produced. But without an cheap Iranian turboprop, numbers won't go high.

S-149 is much better at carrying ammunition, so in the UCAV role 3 S-129 could scan a large area and request S-149 if anything needs to be bombed.
With 5 Sadids internal and 2 Iranian SDB-2 Balaban external, I could imagine S-149 to have 24h flight duration like S-129 with optical payload only.
In COIN warfare you need to have bombers on station at all times.

Such S-129/S-149 combos could also support each other to set up long-range communication links.

But Irans requirements for COIN warfare are low, primary concern are enemy states.

These drones aren’t gonna stand the test of time against nation states with top tier military. It’s good for drug smuggling and Kurdish insurgents. But against Iran’s true enemies it’s too slow and vulnerable.

Like I have reiterated multiple times, Iran needs a supersonic bomber drone built with reduced RCS (a larger RQ-170 basically) and be able to build it in large numbers that can cover the entire Middle East.

I do not exaggerate when I say this project is potentially just as important as Bavar was. It is a wonder weapon with which great importance should be attached. The challenge at this point is a supersonic engine that can power such an UCAV. The other parts of the project Iran has mastered the technology already (flying wing, delta wing, PGMs, radar absorbing honeycomb technology, radar absorbing paint, etc.)

The current drones MALE/UCAV Iran has are too slow for the fast pace nature of a nation state conflict and too easy to be brought down.

 

[PeeD]

These drones aren’t gonna stand the test of time against nation states with top tier military. It’s good for drug smuggling and Kurdish insurgents. But against Iran’s true enemies it’s too slow and vulnerable.

Like I have reiterated multiple times, Iran needs a supersonic bomber drone built with reduced RCS (a larger RQ-170 basically) and be able to build it in large numbers that can cover the entire Middle East.

I do not exaggerate when I say this project is potentially just as important as Bavar was. It is a wonder weapon with which great importance should be attached. The challenge at this point is a supersonic engine that can power such an UCAV. The other parts of the project Iran has mastered the technology already (flying wing, delta wing, PGMs, radar absorbing honeycomb technology, radar absorbing paint, etc.)

The current drones MALE/UCAV Iran has are too slow for the fast pace nature of a nation state conflict and too easy to be brought down.

Ok, an Ababil with small Qaem PGMs is sufficient for smugglers and insurgents. S-129 and -149 are beyond that.

They are sufficient against less advanced countries AND theaters where enemy high capability counter-air assets have been neutralized.
So you won't send them in as the first wave, but due to their stand-off range and endurance, they are well suited to outflank a degraded opponent (range + endurance).

They also work well against MANPAD, AAA and SHORAD equipped opponents, as basically only high-capability, large and foremost radar guided SAM are able to hit targets at 8-10km alt.


I'm with you on LO flying wing drones for first wave persistence tactical coverage role. But meanwhile one can utilize a S-149 kind asset quite well, especially if you are Iran with its high capability first wave assets: Missiles.

 

[TheImmortal]

I'm with you on LO flying wing drones for first wave persistence tactical coverage role. But meanwhile one can utilize a S-149 kind asset quite well, especially if you are Iran with its high capability first wave assets: Missiles.

And what country is Iran going to degrade the theater sufficiently enough for S-149 to make an entrance? Azerbaijan? Literally the only country within Iran’s surroundings...the rest are firmly under US umbrella so chance of large scale direct conflict is low (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain).

And a supersonic LO high altitude flying wing that can drop 1000lbs+ in PGMs or CM payload will be able to do the job of multiple missiles since it will accurately hit nearly every time. They can be launched from anywhere in Iran on moments notice and can hit targets as far away as Israel.

Thus supersonic LO bomber is the only way to take pressure off Iranian missile stockpile during a major conflict. And ensure deterrence via different avenues.

Look at the chaos Iran’s small suicide drones have caused. Now imagine a swarm of bombers that can enter airspace at Mach 3 drop glide or rocket assisted munitions on a target from 100+KM away and be on its way out of airspace when munitions are hitting the targeting. Very potent.

I don’t doubt the capability of Gaza. I am just saying it’s not a drone that is a “game changer” for Iran. Fotros was a similar Niche. Iran needs more game changers.

 

[PeeD]

And what country is Iran going to degrade the theater sufficiently enough for S-149 to make an entrance? Azerbaijan? Literally the only country within Iran’s surroundings...the rest are firmly under US umbrella so chance of large scale direct conflict is low (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain).

And a supersonic LO high altitude flying wing that can drop 1000lbs+ in PGMs or CM payload will be able to do the job of multiple missiles since it will accurately hit nearly every time. They can be launched from anywhere in Iran on moments notice and can hit targets as far away as Israel.

Thus supersonic LO bomber is the only way to take pressure off Iranian missile stockpile during a major conflict. And ensure deterrence via different avenues.

Look at the chaos Iran’s small suicide drones have caused. Now imagine a swarm of bombers that can enter airspace at Mach 3 drop glide or rocket assisted munitions on a target from 100+KM away and be on its way out of airspace when munitions are hitting the targeting. Very potent.

I don’t doubt the capability of Gaza. I am just saying it’s not a drone that is a “game changer” for Iran. Fotros was a similar Niche. Iran needs more game changers.

Well, maybe the main motivation is to put S-149 into containers, store them in mountain bunkers and once the first week of high intensity warfare is over, Iran has spent 80% of its missiles and all its bases have been hit by CMs and hypersonic weapons, nuclear weapons, and the enemy has spent 100% of its high value assets, runways will be repaired, S-149 unpacked and... tactical phase at lower intensity will start.

In such a scenario, you don't want runway-dependent first wave assets, like such a high-tech drone you described.

Just one possible reasoning.