Iranian UAVs | News and Discussions

[TheImmortal]

This multi rotor concept does not look potent enough; In fact it is silly and complicated. There were better concepts for vertical takeoff fighters back in 1950s, with turboprop engines. I am not sure if the same idea applies even easier now for big and small drones, as they don’t need the pilot and the required accessories:

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Multi-rotor concept powers one of the most successful off the shelf Commercial drone line up in the world (DJI series).

So the technology has been proven.

 

[Sina-1]

This multi rotor concept does not look potent enough; In fact it is silly and complicated. There were better concepts for vertical takeoff fighters back in 1950s, with turboprop engines. I am not sure if the same idea applies even easier now for big and small drones, as they don’t need the pilot and the required accessories:

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You raise an interesting point!

These VTOL aircrafts were never realised because they were death traps and honestly not efficient for anything. The power to weight ratio was well over 1 which was a must of take off and landning but for normal flight these aircraft were not so efficient with short wings and rather large horizontal and vertical tails. The structural sizing of the wing and tail were also done mostly to withstand landing. So a lot of factor made these aircraft not so efficient for normal flight.

Also, they were very scary to fly since the transition from vertical to horizontal flight was completely unstable. So in vertical flight you have more then 1 in P/W. Stable flight. No problem. In horizontal you have conventional lift and good laminar flow. Stable flight. No problem. Transition from horizontal to vertical was a mess because you basically needed to go to stall and all nice laminar flow on you wing becomes turbulent and you have an unstable moment where things can go to hell.

For a manned flight I think this concept is really bad. But I think it really needs to be investigated for UAVs and explore wether new AI techniques can be utilised to manage the unstable transitions. If a solution is found then it is a very elegant solution.

some really interesting info and vids:
https://www.techeblog.com/us-navy-v-bat-drone/

 

[skyshadow]

 

[waduhek]

It depicts the Fotros twice and calls it Ababil once..

 

[skyshadow]

It depicts the Fotros twice and calls it Ababil once..

welcome,yes i noticed that

 

[Philosopher]

According to the below tweet Iran's airforce will get delivery of UAVs in the coming days. I am assuming it will the Kaman series UAVs.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1280082721981829121

 

[Sineva]

Looks like the airforce took delivery of some ababil 3s

 

[Shawnee]

Interceptor/Anti-aircraft version of karrar UAV in action.

Karrar UAV can be supersonic with newer set of turbojet/jet engines. I cannot verify this example was also supersonic but it appears faster than the early versions.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1294285916824113153

 

[TheImmortal]

Interceptor/Anti-aircraft version of karrar UAV in action.

Karrar UAV can be supersonic with newer set of turbojet/jet engines. I cannot verify this example was also supersonic but it appears faster than the early versions.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1294285916824113153

How can you judge the flight speed? They are taking off using a booster not the main engine it looks like.

 

[Arminkh]

Interceptor/Anti-aircraft version of karrar UAV in action.

Karrar UAV can be supersonic with newer set of turbojet/jet engines. I cannot verify this example was also supersonic but it appears faster than the early versions.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1294285916824113153

Very interesting. Has any other country done this before?

 

[TheImmortal]

Very interesting. Has any other country done this before?

China dark sword stealth drone

 

[Shawnee]

How can you judge the flight speed? They are taking off using a booster not the main engine it looks like.

It shows a spot speed of 570 m/s in the panel. Visually see the target IR images for comparison.

Take off is booster powered. Ignore that.
...

 

[Shawnee]

China dark sword stealth drone

Is this an interceptor?
...

 

[Shawnee]

Very interesting. Has any other country done this before?

Nothing that I have seen in action beyond a concept.
...

 

[TheImmortal]

Is this an interceptor?
...

Whether based on land or at sea, Dark Sword appears to be uniquely well suited to operate under a 'loyal wingman' or 'tethered' concept of operations in addition to an independent one. Under such a setup, Dark Sword would be able to speed ahead of manned fighters on command to collect data and targeting information, or even engage targets itself. Such a capability would be useful to stealthy and non-stealthy manned fighters alike. But for the latter, it could be a huge force multiplier, providing high-end counter-air defense and strike capability without the cost of procuring droves of high-end stealthy manned fighters.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...-dark-sword-fighter-like-combat-drone-emerges

It’s one of a family of next gen Chinese UCAV being developed to do a host of combat missions. Chinese hope to even develop future versions of Dark Sword into the worlds first hypersonic drone in order to assist in air defense and air to air weapons development.

I would say Iran is now lagging both China and Russia in the Next gen UCAV department (at least publicly).

Closet thing Iran has to next gen UCAV is Sofreh Mahi project which after RQ-170 capture one wonders if the project has been cancelled or pivoted to a different design. I have been adamant on here for the need of a high altitude supersonic family of Iranian drones that can drop high altitude glide munitions or CMs onto enemy targets as well as A2A versions for air defense.

Karrar is a novel technique in line with traditional Iranian architecture of using current gen drone technology and cheaper costs. From that standpoint it’s unique as a current gen interceptor a combination of a drone, missile, with anti air seeker. Still I would consider it as more a loiter munition with some niche uses rather than full fledge interceptor that can be relied on during war or conflict to adequately assist with air defense.

Most countries have given that role to next gen UCAVs like Lockheed’s classified projects And Chinese various flying wing/delta wing projects such as Dark Sword and Sharp Sword.