Mystery drone emerges from the sea in the Gulf of Oman. American, Israeli or …. Iranian?

The following image shows a drone reportedly recovered by the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution from the sea in the Gulf of Oman, near the port of Jask, Iran.

The mysterious UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) appears to be covered by mud and seaweeds and it does not look like any known type at first glance.

Although the quality of the photo does not help identifying it, the drone, seemingly painted in a desert color scheme, has something in common with the somehow famous “Pahpad” drone, made in Iran and used by Syria to spy on the clashes in Homs: similar nose section and, possibly fin (the one in the image could be displaced and the only surviving the impact).

Still, the drone recovered from the sea seems to lack the typical tail boom that in the “Pahpad” (image below) is connected to the vertical stabilizers in the middle of the fins.

Furthermore, after capturing an RQ-170 and some ScanEagle drones, the fact that Tehran has not claimed any new downing of enemy UAVs could be the sign that the one depicted in the above image is a domestic “Pahpad”.

Rather than the name of the drone, Pahpad (پهپاد) is actually the short form of “parandeye hedayat pazire az rahe door” (“پرنده هدایت پذیر از راه دور”), the Farsi for “remotely piloted aircraft”.

What’s your opinion? Which kind of drone is that?

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About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.