Bloomberg’s account of the developments in Iran’s drone industry

In a report today, the Bloomberg website discussed the decades of history of drone production and construction in Iran and wrote that Iranian drones are now in at least five countries, from South America to Central Asia. are produced and the number of countries that use Iranian technology, assistance or parts in the construction of drones has reached at least 12 countries.

This report added: The origin of the UAV production industry in Iran is a story of innovation or death. Since 45 years ago and Iran’s revolutionary government faced sanctions, self-sufficiency became a way of life.

The first drones made by Iran went to the arsenals during the 8-year war with Iraq. At that time, America and Saudi Arabia provided arms and financial aid to Saddam Hussein and 250 thousand Iranians died during the war. Iran did not hesitate and created a drone production ecosystem consisting of universities, private companies and military research centers.

The domestic technology of UAV manufacturing in Iran was strengthened in 1390 and when the Cyber ​​Command of this country shot down an American UAV (RQ-170 Sentinel) of Lockheed Martin in Iran. Subsequently, Iranian aerospace experts reverse-engineered this bat-shaped fiberglass drone.

This report continues: Iran’s use of drones became more complicated in 2018 and after the withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA. Sanctions are the mother of invention and circumvention, and Iran, which is barred from buying western technology with possible military applications due to sanctions restrictions, procures electronic components from Asian suppliers or a wide network of other importing companies from America and Europe.

Now Iran’s drones have become better and more stealthy and have managed to turn the Islamic Republic into a regional actor with growing ambitions. By using drone diplomacy to finance the defense industry, strengthen strategic alliances and turn it into a powerful arms exporter with the capacity to change the nature of conflicts around the world, Iran imports foreign currency into the country.

Matthew McInnis, who was a Pentagon intelligence officer for 15 years and served as the US Deputy Special Representative for Iran Affairs from 2016 to 2021, told Bloomberg: “The last two years have been a period of intense acceleration of new tactics and techniques.” UAVs have been used by Iran. All countries are behind Iran in understanding the defense capacity of UAVs.

Source: IRNA