Qods Raad 85

Raad 85

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

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Ceiling: 11000 ft
Top Speed: 250 km/h
Combat radius: 100 km
Avionics: transmitting imagery[7]

References

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  1. ^ "The Arkenstone - ارکنستون: Mohajer UAV". 5 March 2015.
  2. ^ Wright, Galen (5 March 2015). The Arkenstone - ارکنستون: Mohajer UAV.
  3. ^ "The Aviationist » Ra'ad 85". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Iran builds new indigenous UAV dubbed Ra'ad 85". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Iran's army develops new suicide drone". 28 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  6. ^ 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/
  7. ^ ايران, عصر. پرونده ای برای هواپیماهای بدون سرنشین ایران. عصر ايران (in Persian). Asr-e Iran.