![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Army_Day%2C_2022%2C_Tehran_%2847%29.jpg/220px-Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Army_Day%2C_2022%2C_Tehran_%2847%29.jpg)
The Raad 85 (Thunder 85) (Also R'ad 85, Ra'ad 85, etc) is an Iranian loitering munition developed in the 2010s.[1] It was designed by the Iranian Army's Research and Self-sufficiency Jihad Organization in cooperation with Qods Aviation[2] for the Iranian Army Ground Force. It is an unmanned "suicide drone" that is remotely guided to its target by a human operator.[3] It is designed to be operated in an electronic warfare environment.[4]
General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan of the Iranian Armed Forces has stated, "This drone is like a mobile bomb, and is capable of destroying fixed and mobile targets."[5]
In 2015, five Ra’ad-85 drones were used to strike an Ahrar Al-Sham military base in Syria’s Idlib province, as part of the Syrian Civil War.[6]
Specifications
[edit]Ceiling: 11000 ft
Top Speed: 250 km/h
Combat radius: 100 km
Avionics: transmitting imagery[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Arkenstone - ارکنستون: Mohajer UAV". 5 March 2015.
- ^ Wright, Galen (5 March 2015). The Arkenstone - ارکنستون: Mohajer UAV.
- ^ "The Aviationist » Ra'ad 85". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ "Iran builds new indigenous UAV dubbed Ra'ad 85". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ "Iran's army develops new suicide drone". 28 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ Report A Short History of the Iranian Drone Program By Michael Rubin American Enterprise Institute August 26, 2020 https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/a-short-history-of-the-iranian-drone-program/
- ^ ايران, عصر. پرونده ای برای هواپیماهای بدون سرنشین ایران. عصر ايران (in Persian). Asr-e Iran.