Iran Ramps Up UAS Development Programme
Last week Iran unveiled its latest UAS dubbed “Hamaseh”. This unmanned aircraft follows a classic twin-boom tail design, pioneered by IAI’s Scout and Tadiran Mastiff in the 1980s.
On the May 9, 2013 unveiling ceremony the aircraft was shown carrying two 107mm rockets and what seems to be an electronic payload – probably a radar. The Iranians say it can ‘avoid detection by the enemy thanks to its stealth features’, but based on visual impression of the aircraft shown in flight, the overall shape and non-stealth features such as the non retractable landing gear, wing strakes (beefing up the hard-points) would negate signature reduction to a level considered ‘stealthy’ by western standards. According to the Iranians, Hamaseh is designed for reconnaissance and combat missions.
Regardless of the maturity of the current Hamaseh, the design represents a new level of maturity for Iran’s UAS programme, which currently includes about 40 different types of UAS. Of these, about 30 are in different phases of production.
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