TEHRAN // Iran said Monday that it has successfully tested its own version of a US-made drone based on one it captured in 2011.
State TV quoted General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of the elite Revolutionary Guard, as saying the test was carried out earlier Monday.
“As we promised earlier this year, a test flight of the Iranian version of the RQ-170 was carried out and a video will be released soon,” he said. Iran had displayed the drone earlier this year.
Iran has said it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from neighbouring Afghanistan, and that it’s capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft.
Iran said it has captured several American drones in recent years, including a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone — a less sophisticated aircraft — after it entered Iranian airspace over the Arabian Gulf.
Tehran said it is also reverse engineering the ScanEagle and plans to put its version into service.
Iran has accused the US of using drones to spy on the country’s nuclear programme. The US and other Western nations have long suspected Iran is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside its civilian programme. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is entirely focused on peaceful applications like power generation and the production of medical isotopes.
The two sides are currently struggling to reach an agreement under which Tehran would curb its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions.
Iran began a self-sufficiency military programme in 1992, under which it has produced everything from mortars and torpedoes to military tanks, jet fighters and light submarines.
* Associated Press
