The Shahed 149 Gaza ( fa, پهپاد غزه) or ( fa, شاهد ۱۴۹), is an Iranian

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

(UCAV) operated by the

Iranian Revolutionary Guard The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

. It was unveiled on 21 May 2021 and named after the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

in honor of the

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

' struggle against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

amid the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. It was delivered to the

IRGC Aerospace Force The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air and Space Force (IRGCASF; fa, نیروی هوافضای سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, niru-ye havâfazây-e sepâh-e pâsdârâ ...

in 2022. The Gaza drone is a high-altitude long-endurance UAV similar in size, shape and role to the American

MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

. It is a larger, heavier, and more capable aircraft than the earlier

Shahed 129 The Shahed 129 ( fa, شاهد ۱۲۹, English: "witness"; sometimes S129) is an Iranian single-engine medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed by Shahed Aviation Industries for the Islamic Revolutionary Guar ...

which was similar to the

MQ-1 Predator The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ( ...

. It has a flight duration of 35 hours, a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), 21m wingspan, 350 km/h cruise speed and is capable of carrying 13 bombs and 500 kg of electronic equipment. It is the first Iranian UAV powered by a

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

engine.

History

On February 23, 2020, a defense reporter for

Tasnim News Tasnim News Agency ( fa, خبرگزاری تسنیم) is a semi-official news agency in Iran. It has links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Launched in 2012, its purpose is to cover a variety of political, social, economic and int ...

posted on Twitter that Iran was developing a drone called "Shahed 149". This is the first mention of the drone. The drone was unveiled in May 2021. The drone passed its flight tests in April 2022 and was accepted for service the same month.

Specifications

References

Shahed 149 Gaza 149 Military equipment of Iran Unmanned aerial vehicles of Iran Unmanned military aircraft of Iran Aircraft manufactured in Iran Iranian military aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft V-tail aircraft {{UAV-stub

History

Specifications

See also

References