Iran has strengthened its air defense capabilities by deploying long-range combat drones with air-to-air missiles, state media said on Sunday.
“Dozens of Karrar drones armed with air-to-air missiles were deployed for air defense in all border areas of the country,” the Irna news agency said.
These drones were displayed during a televised ceremony at a military university in Tehran on Sunday morning.
Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Abdolrahim Mousavi said that “enemies must now rethink their strategies” because Iranian forces have “become more powerful.”
The Karrar interceptor drone, the first version of which was unveiled in 2010, is equipped with a Majid thermal missile with a range of eight kilometers that is “entirely made in Iran,” Irna said.
According to General Mousavi, the operational tests during the military exercises organized in October were successful.
The development of Iran's military arsenal is a concern for many countries, especially the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's sworn enemies.
The latter accuse Tehran of supplying drone fleets to its allies in the Middle East, particularly the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Islamic Republic is also accused of providing Russia with drones for attacks in Ukraine. Tehran admitted to delivering some of them, but claimed those deliveries predated the offensive in Ukraine, but did not escape a volley of Western sanctions.
Iran began producing drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the 1980s during its eight-year war with Iraq.