Iran is continuing to develop and expand its capabilities to deploy and produce drones.
At the same time, it is producing air-launched precision weapons, launch platforms, and intelligence-gathering
systems carried by drones.
All this is part of its asymmetric-warfare doctrine against its enemies by air, land,
and sea (in the latter case, using explosive suicide speedboats, midget-submarines, naval
mines, and rocket-carrying speedboats).
Iran also emphasizes that some of the drone models have already been launched at Israel
over the past year and are intended for a “preemptive strike” against its Israeli
enemy.
Iran boasts that it is developing this capability with the help of lessons drawn from warfare
in different world arenas.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to “export” drones to members of the “resistance camp”
in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq and is using Yemen as its main testing ground for
drones, missiles, cruise missiles, and explosive boats, particularly against Saudi Arabia and
some of the other Gulf States.
Iran also inaugurated a drone factory in Tajikistan to manufacture Ababil-2 drones, a product
of the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA)
A Preemptive Strike Requires a Modern Capability.
Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Iran’s chief of staff, and Abdolrahim Musavi, commander of
its standing army, were at the base and were interviewed for the report.
However, the reporter stressed that none of the other forces, including operators of the
drones, were allowed to be interviewed.
Baqeri said that achieving preemptive-strike capabilities against the enemy necessitates
a transition from old to modern weaponry and new combat methods, such as drones, and that
this was proven in the fighting in Ukraine, Iraq, and Syria.
“The drones I saw today [at the base] can play an important role in that context.”
He added that Iran is not taking any threats lightly.
“We don’t think the enemy is sleeping, our eyes are wide open, and we are always
ready and resolved.”
The chief of staff stated further, “Today is an extraordinary day of great value for
me,” and said the country’s achievements in this important domain are rapidly growing.”
Abdolrahim Musavi, for his part, said that Iran’s drone capability is the largest in
the region and that the momentum of their development and upgrade are unstoppable.
Mahmoud Mousavi, the operations deputy of Iran’s army, said that there are bases similar
to 313 in different parts of Iran that have been operational “for a long time.”
He added that the special missions assigned to these secret bases are mainly abroad and
“aimed at inflicting severe blows on the enemy.”
A Wide Variety of Drones.
As part of Iran’s force projection in the region, and to soften the impact of recent
injurious security incidents (including assassinations and mysterious explosions), Iranian TV broadcast1
a report on a “top-secret drone base” located “hundreds of meters underground.”
The base is in the Kermanshah province, bordering Iraq in western Iran.
Drones can be launched against Israel from that location.
Blindfolded, an Iranian TV reporter was taken to “Strategic Drone Base 313.”
After his blindfold was removed, photographers from Iran’s broadcasting authority were
not allowed to accompany him.
Army photographers took pictures of the base for the report.
The video emphasized that the base contains “more than 100 drones,” including attack,
patrol, and suicide drones.
The reporter said the smaller UAVs are equipped with missile and bomb systems developed in
Iran and electronic-warfare systems.
The Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, showcased the kinds
of drones at the base: Kaman-22, Kaman-12, Ababil-5 (equipped with Qaem-9 missiles, the
Iranian version of the American Hellfire), Quds Mohajer 6 (an intelligence, surveillance,
target acquisition, and reconnaissance drone capable of carrying four precision-guided
munitions),2 Fotros, and the Karrar, which carries different kinds of ammunition including
bombs, anti-ballistic missiles, and surface-to-air missiles.
The First Cruise Missile to Be Launched from a Drone.
During the chief of staff’s visit, Iran’s official IRNA news agency revealed the Heydar-1
cruise missile that can be launched from a drone at a range of 200 kilometers with a
strike speed of 1,000 km per hour.
The missile was introduced by Iran’s standing army (Artesh).
The Tasnim News Agency, also affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, stressed that this
is the first cruise missile of its kind that can be launched from Fotros or Kaman-22 drones.
Baqeri said that Iran had developed a Heydar-2 cruise drone that could be launched from a
helicopter.
The segment broadcast from Strategic Base 313 came a day after a New York Times report
of an attack on the Parchin military complex based on three Iranian sources and one American
source.