Iran to use UAVs to guard borders

Iran plans to equip all of its border areas with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) within the next few months, Iranian Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam announced on Sunday.In Tehran, nine remote-controlled drones have already been purchased, and ten others will be bought in the near future, Ahmadi-Moqaddam told reporters. The commander added that the police aviation personnel were receiving training to operate the drones. The drones are to carry out reconnaissance missions in the desert areas of the Eastern Iran near the border with Afghanistan, as part of Iran's campaign against narcotics and drug-trafficking, Ahmadi-Moqaddam was quoted as saying. The Iranian Air Force also announced in July that it plans to deploy reconnaissance drones along the country's border. Speaking in an interview with FNA, Deputy Lieutenant Commander of Army's Air Force for Operations General Majid Pirhadi underlined that Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) will cover all the country's border regions in the near future. "We are seeking to equip all the country's central (air) bases with long-range UAVs but for now equipping bases along borders sets a priority," Pirhadi stated. The commander highlighted the growing applications of UAVs in Iran's armed forces, and announced that the Air Force command headquarters plans to form a command-and-control center for UAVs. "Using UAVs plays a vital role in the strengthening of the Armed Forces' offensive and defensive capabilities. Accordingly, we seek to equip all the country's air bases with different types of drones," he noted. The commander added that all border bases in western and southern Iran will be equipped with UAVs by the end of summer (September 2010). He mentioned that these drones are currently tasked with intelligence and information gathering and reconnaissance missions and that the Iranian Army plans to use different types of drones for combat, reconnaissance, disruption and communication missions. Earlier in June, Lieutenant Commander of Iran's Air Force Mohsen Darrebaqi told FNA that the Iranian Air Force plans to form a battalion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in all its bases across the country. "A UAV battalion will be formed in every Air Force fighters' base," Darrebaqi said, adding, "These UAV battalions have already been formed in four bases."Iran has recently made good progress in the air industry and has succeeded in gaining the technical know-how for producing stealth aircraft and drones. Iran successfully tested a home-made radar-evading UAV with bombing capabilities in June 2009. In February, Iran inaugurated the production line of two home-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with bombing and reconnaissance capabilities. The two hi-tech drones named 'Ra'd' (Thunder) and 'Nazir' (Harbinger) are capable of conducting long-range reconnaissance, patrolling, assault and bombing missions with high precision. Ra'd which is a UAV of choice for assault and bombing missions has the capability to destroy the specified targets with high pinpoint precision. Experts believe that once the UAV enters the scene of aerial missions, it would enhance the reconnaissance, patrolling and defensive power of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Force. Iran started construction of a plant in the Northern province of Mazandaran in 2008 to mass produce UAVs for different civilian and military missions. Last month Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled the country's first home-made combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The combat drone, named Karrar, was unveiled in a special ceremony in Tehran marking the national 'Day of Defense Industry'. The Karrar UAV is capable of carrying a military payload to carry out bombing missions against ground targets. It is also capable of flying long distances at a very high speed.