The HESA Karrar ( fa, کرار) is an Iranian jet-powered target drone manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) since 2010. The Karrar is a derivative of the American 1970s-era Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone, probably incorporating elements from the South African Skua, with hardpoints added for munitions. The Karrar was developed during the Ahmadinejad presidency. As a target drone, the Karrar is used to train air-defense crews by simulating an aerial target. The Karrar is regularly spotted at Iranian air-defense drills, and is believed to be the replacement for Iran's aging American-built MQM-107 target drones. Karrar jet unmanned-aerial-vehicles are recently equipped with

Shahab-e-Saqeb (missile) Shahab-e-Saqeb (missile), ( fa, موشک شهاب ثاقب) is an Iranian-made low altitude defense missile which was designed by Defense industry of Iran. This defensive missile has been built in order to annihilate diverse targets at low altitud ...

in order to hit air targets.

Design

The Karrar has a small, clipped delta wing mounted low to a cylindrical, blunt-nosed fuselage. It has a dorsal air intake for the engine and twin arrowhead-shaped endplate tailfins mounted high on the fuselage. HESA Karrar 2010

The Karrar uses a rocket assist system to take off and is recovered by parachute. It is also claimed to be capable of air launch. Iranian officials have said the aircraft has surveillance capabilities, but the Karrar has no visible EO/IR sensors. The Karrar is believed to have an autopilot system with

INS INS or Ins or ''variant'', may refer to: Places * Ins, Switzerland, a municipality * Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS) * Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS Biology *'' Ins'', a New World genus of bee flies * INS, the gene for the insul ...

and/or

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

guidance, and may have terrain following capability as well. The Karrar is capable of both high and low altitude flight, and of day and night flight. It can follow a pre-programmed flight path, which can also be updated in flight. The Karrar can carry one 500 lb

Mk 82 The Mark 82 (Mk 82) is an unguided, low- drag general-purpose bomb, part of the United States Mark 80 series. The explosive filling is usually tritonal, though other compositions have sometimes been used. Development and deployment W ...

general-purpose bomb, with claimed precision guidance, on its centerline hardpoint. Alternatively, it can carry two

Nasr-1 The Nasr-1 ( fa, نصر-۱) is an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile. According to its export catalog, it can destroy 1,500-tonne targets such as small frigates. Nasr-1 missile can be launched from both inland bases and offshore military vessel ...

anti-ship missiles, two

Kowsar Kowsar () is a medium-range, land-based anti-ship missile made by Iran. It can defeat electronic jamming systems and "cannot be thrown off course", according to Iranian officials. The Kowsar designation apparently (Missile Defense Advocacy Alli ...

anti-ship missiles, or two 250 pound Mk 81 general-purpose bombs on the underwing stations, or (since 2019) a Balaban satellite-guided glide bomb. It is believed that carrying weapons substantially reduces the Karrar's operating range. Military experts quickly noted that Karrar bears an obvious resemblance to the US Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone designed in the 1970s and exported to Iran before the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. According to a report from Denel Dynamics, however, the Karrar is not an exact clone of the MQM-107 Streaker as some design elements have been copied from the Denel Dynamics Skua as well. Technical data on the Skua was reportedly sold by one of the Skua's export customers to Iran. Overall, the Karrar is not an exact copy of the MQM-107, and multiple design changes have been made.

Operational history

Development of the Karrar was underway as of 2002, possibly under the name "Hadaf-1". A subscale model of the Karrar was also seen around 2004. The Karrar is also known as the "Ababil Jet"; the

Ababil Ababil or Ababeel may refer to: *Ababeel (NGO), a charitable organization based in Jammu and Kashmir *Ababeel (missile), a Pakistani MIRV-capable Medium-range ballistic missile *Ababil-100, an Iraqi single-stage Short-range ballistic missile *HESA A ...

is an unrelated UAV also offered by the same manufacturer, HESA. Iran said the Karrar took "500,000 hours" to develop, but independent analysts say this is unlikely. The Karrar was unveiled on August 23, 2010, one day after the activation of a nuclear reactor in Bushehr, by Iranian president

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

. It was framed as a "long-range bomber drone," and is the first long-range UAV manufactured in Iran. Multiple sources report that the Karrar has been exported to Hezbollah. The Karrar has supposedly been used in the Syrian Civil War. ''Defense Update'' suggests in particular that the Karrar could be useful for using cruise missiles to target ground-based radars and naval ships. In 2018, Daily Beast reporter Adam Rawnsley said that the Karrar, despite Iranian claims, does not possess the capacity to deploy weapons and is merely a target drone. Today, Karrar is regularly used by Iran's air defense force for training. Karrar target drones have been used to test Mersad SAM systems,

S-300PMU-2 S3, S-3 or S03 may refer to: Entertainment * ''Si3'' (flim), originally titled ''S III'' and also known as ''Singam 3'', the third film in the ''Singam'' franchise * ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'', code S3, a 1980 ''Dungeons & Dragons'' adve ...

SAM systems, Sayyad-2 SAM systems,

Fakour-90 The Fakour-90 () is an Iranian air-to-air missile based on the AIM-54 Phoenix. It is solely deployed on Iran's F-14 Tomcats. While not confirmed for use in service, it has also been tested for usage on Iranian MiG-29s. History The missile was deve ...

air-to-air missiles, and Sayyad-3 SAM systems. Iran reportedly used the Karrar to deploy munitions for the first time in a 2020 exercise.

Operators

* ** Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force

Non-state user

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

Specifications

References