New video shows Iranian suicide combat UAV drone. Patched together with duct tape.

Towards the end of September, the Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced that Tehran managed to develop and produce a new type drone, dubbed Ra’ad 85 (Thunder 85).

But, unlike all the other Iranian UAVs, Ra’ad 85 is a suicide remotely piloted vehicle capable of destroying both fixed and mobile targets.

According to the commander, the “mobile bomb-like drone” has been produced in various sizes in order to be used against different types of targets, including enemy helicopters.

Iran TV has recently aired a video about the brand new UAV/PGM killer drone. What is somehow surprising is that the Iranian drone (whose shape reminds the one of the Mohajer family of UAVs) seems to be patched with duct tape, that is particularly evident in the nose and gear area.

The patches may have been applied during the testing activity and considered the unmanned aircraft will be crashed into its intended target there’s no need to use state of the art technology and materials.

Still, the presence of the duct tape gives an idea of an amateurish project, even if the fact that footage includes scenes filmed inside a ground control station is a sign that Ra’ad is probably something more than a large RC model.

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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.