Army official: Iran self-sufficient in drone technology

TEHRAN - Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari, commander of the Army Ground Force, has said that Iran has reached self-sufficiency in the field of drone technology.
“We are developing and upgrading drones day by day and we have reached self-sufficiency in this area,” ISNA quoted him as saying on Sunday.
In September, Iran unveiled a new domestically-built drone that can hit targets “far beyond its borders”, Mehr reported.
The drone, dubbed Kian, was unveiled in a ceremony attended by Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard, commander of Iran’s Air Defense Force.
Iran has made major breakthroughs in defense technology, attaining self-sufficiency in producing military equipment despite harsh sanctions by the United States.
The Islamic Republic says its military power is solely for defensive purposes and does not pose any threat to other countries.
Iran unveiled a long-range surface-to-air missile system, dubbed “Bavar-373”, in August, saying the missile system is more advanced than the U.S. Patriot system and its Russian counterpart S-300.
Bavar-373 is a mobile missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming hostile targets. The system employs missiles that have a maximum range of 300 kilometers. The system is capable of simultaneously detecting up to 300 targets, tracking 60 targets at once and engaging six targets at a time.
NA/PA