Iranian Shahed 129 drone appears over Damascus

Footage filmed in Syria once again shows a made-in-Iran drone flying over Damascus.

A “Shahed 129″, type of drone based on the Israeli Hermes 450 model or the Watchkeeper 450 model, but larger than those types, was spotted over Syria on Apr. 10.

The Shahed 129 is a remotely piloted vehicle claimed to have an endurance of 24 hours and an operative range up to 2,000 kilometers. Noteworthy, in September 2013, Tehran unveiled a version of Shahed 129 domestically modified to carry weapons, making the Iranian drone a real UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle).

Still, the Shahed filmed today doesn’t seem to carry any weapon, at least based on the blurry images currently available.

It’s not the first time a new Iranian drone was delivered to Assad: in November 2013, a Yasir drone, a modified copy of the Boeing ScanEagle (captured by the Iranians in 2012) was filmed over Damascus suburb Hujaira AlBalad, in Syria.

The comment we made back then is still valid today: it’s at least funny how fast any “new” Iranian UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is delivered to Assad’s forces.

H/T to @hlk01 for the heads-up

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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.