Iran UAVs range upgraded

A senior Iranian military official says domestically-manufactured UAVs are capable of operating within a range of 3,000 kilometers.

Commander of the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said Saturday that Iran is today able to design and build different types of UAVs for various operations.

Earlier this month, Iran unveiled its latest state-of-the-art UAV, (named Ababil 3) which can be used in ISR operations. Not for nothing, in recent years Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems, including a variety of domestically-manufactured UAVs.

The Ababil 3 has a flight range of eight hours and effective operational radius of 250 kilometers. The UAV can fly at an altitude of 15,000 feet and transmit images simultaneously to GCS or any other platform. The Islamic Republic unveiled its first home-made long-range combat UAV (Named Karrar, meaning Striker) in August 2010. Since then the country has manufactured a variety of other high-tech ISR and combat UAVs.

¿What to do with a thug UAV?

The FAA is growing gravely concerned about the threat of personal unmanned aircraft, and the agency receives frequent reports of UAVs flying close to airplanes or helicopters near airports in violation of regulations. If the FAA has the authority to govern the skies, it is a part of its central safety mission to give rules relating to UAV flying in civil airspace: The public needs clear guidance on what and where they can fly remote controlled UAVs, and law enforcement officials need to know how they should react when they see a civil UAV over a city street or, worse, near the vicinity of an airport or heliport. 

More than 1 million UAVS still awaiting the parliamentary "Green Light"

Though UAVs have begun to enter the commercial space, the future for them still has significant uncertainty: Today, UAVs require skilled operators for actual use, and have a high crash rate, factors that will slow down acceptance in various end applications. UAVs also have technical obstacles due to issues like low electric range, lack of true autopilot, and basic airworthiness, but the authentic main obstacle is the chaotic current state of regulation: While countries such as Canada and Australia are ahead of the game, with regulations in place and commercial flight actively happening, many countries have little or no meaningful regulatory structure, putting the UAVs awaiting the parliamentary "green light" to take off.