Iran’s Drone Inventory and Potential Sales to Russia

[Notice: The Critical Threats Project frequently cites sources from foreign domains. All such links are identified with an asterisk (*) for the reader’s awareness.]

Last Updated: July 13, 2022

Iran has developed an extensive inventory of domestically produced drones of varying capabilities and ranges. It has used some of those drones in attacks against Persian Gulf states and has provided some of them to its regional proxies for use in such attacks. The following datasheet summarizes the variety and basic capabilities of the most common and/or significant Iranian drones. It is not exhaustive. We present it now to inform the discussion about the kinds of systems Iran could provide to Russia for use in Moscow’s current invasion of Ukraine and the kinds of capabilities those systems could give Russia.

Update: We have updated our datasheet to include information on the technical specifications of some of the munitions we have identified as usable from the Iranian drones listed below. CTP will continue to expand and refine the information we have available on Iranian drones and update this document as appropriate.

Iranian Drones

Ababil

Ababil-2

• Role: Multirole (ISR and combat capabilities)
• Range: 120-200 km
• Launch system: JATO launcher, truck-based pneumatic catapult, and ship-based launcher
• Munitions: n/a
• Sources: *Raja News, TRADOC

Ababil-3

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 100-250 km
• Launch system: runway
• Munitions:
  • Almas guided anti-tank missiles
  • Ghaem guided glide bombs
• Sources: Iran Press, TRADOC

Ababil-5

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 480 km
• Launch system: runway
• Munitions:
  • Almas guided anti-tank missiles
  • Ghaem guided glide bombs
• Sources: Iran Press

Fotros

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 1,700-4,000 km
• Launch system: runway
• Munitions:
  • Almas guided anti-tank missiles
  • Ghaem guided glide bombs
  • Heydar-1/2 cruise missiles
• Sources: *YJC, TRADOC, Military Factory

Hemaseh

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 200 km
• Launch system: runway
• Munitions:
  • Ghaem guided glide bombs
• Sources: *YJC, Jane’s Defence

Karrar

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 800-1,000 km
• Launch system: pneumatic catapult
• Munitions:
  • Azarakhsh guided missiles
  • Balaban guided bombs
  • GBU-12 laser-guided general-purpose bombs
  • Kowsar medium-range guided anti-ship cruise missiles
  • Shafagh laser-guided missiles
  • Simorgh cluster bombs
  • Yasin long-range guided glide bombs
  • 500-pound laser guided MK-82 bombs
• Sources: Iran Press, Medium

Mohajer

Mohajer-2/2N

• Role: ISR
• Range: Mohajer-2: 31-50 km; Mohajer-2N: 150 km)
• Launch system: pneumatic catapult
• Munitions: possible capability to launch RPG-7s
• Sources: *YJC, TRADOC

Mohajer-4

• Role: ISR
• Range: 150 km
• Launch system: pneumatic catapult
• Munitions: Hyrda-70 air-to-surface unguided rockets
• Sources: Iran Press, TRADOC

Mohajer-6

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 200-2,000 km
• Launch system: runway
• Munitions:
  • Almas guided anti-tank missiles
  • Ghaem guided glide bombs
• Sources: *IRIB News, TRADOC

Sadegh

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 200 km
• Launch system: pneumatic catapult
• Munitions:
  • Adapted Misagh air-to-air missiles
• Sources: *YJC

Shahed-129

• Role: Multirole
• Range: 1,700 km[1]
• Launch system: runway
• Munitions:
  • Sadid guided glide bombs
• Sources: Iran Press

Toufan

• Role: One-way kamikaze attack
• Range: 100 km
• Launch system: JATO launcher
• Munitions: n/a
• Sources: *Mizan News Agency, *YJC

Iranian Munitions

The Almas is guided anti-tank missile with an engagement range of 8 km. It can hit fixed armored targets. Iranian media has compared the Almas to the Israeli Spike missile. (*Javan Online)

The Azarakhsh is a guided missile used for anti-tank and air-to-air missions. It has a range of 10 km. (*IRNA, *Mehr News Agency, *Mashregh News)

The Balaban is a guided bomb that can hit fixed ground and naval targets up to 25 km away. It has a 41 kg warhead. (*Khabar Online)

The Ghaem is a guided glide bomb primarily used for anti-tank missions. Iranian media has compared the Ghaem-114 to the American AGM-114 Hellfire missile. (*Mashregh News)

The Heydar-1/2 is a cruise missile that has an engagement range of 200 km. (Iran Press)

The Kowsar is a medium-range guided anti-ship cruise missile. The Kowsar-1 has an engagement range of 15-19 km. The Kowsar-2 and Kowsar-3 both have an engagement range of 25 km. Some media reports have compared the Kowsar to the Chinese Fl8 anti-ship missile. (Iran Press)

The Misagh is a man-portable air-defense system that has an adapted variant for air-to-air use. The Misagh-1 has an engagement range of 50-5,000 m, whereas the Misagh-2 has an engagement range of 500-6,000 m. Both variants use a 1.42 kg warhead. The Misagh is a clone of the Chinese QW-1 Vanguard missile system. (UAS Vision, TRADOC)

The Sadid-345 is a guided glide bomb. Its exact specifications are unclear. The Sadid-1 is an earlier variant of this munition that reportedly experienced R&D setbacks due to US sanctions. (*Khabar Online, Medium)

The Shafagh is a laser-guided missile that is often used for anti-armor missions. It can hit fixed and moving ground and naval targets within 8-12 km. Newer variants of the missile have an expanded operational range of 15-20 km. The missile has a 13 kg warhead. (Iran Press, *Mashregh News,)

The Simorgh is a cluster bomb that weighs around 250 kg. Iranian media has compared the Simorgh to the British BL755. (*Mashregh News)

The Yasin is a long-range guided glide bomb. The munition has an engagement range of 60-100 km. It uses a MK-82 225 kg bomb as a warhead. (Iran Press)

[1][1] The Shahed-129 uses a ground control station and datalink to operate, which may limit the platform’s operational range. (Source: TRADOC)