Don’t Laugh Too Hard At Iran’s Fake Drone

Fox News has reported that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that Iran recently unveiled – touting it as the result of Tehran’s reverse-engineering of an American RQ-170 drone that was lost on Iranian soil roughly three years ago – is being called out by some experts as an obvious fake:

Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency on Sunday trumpeted the news that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps had made a copy of the Lockheed Martin RQ-170, and had shown off the craft at an aerospace exhibition in Tehran. But defense industry sources told the U.S. Naval Institute the supposedly cloned drone is a fake, and a crude one at that.

“It seems their fiberglass work has improved a lot,” the source said. “It also seems that if it were a functional copy, versus a detailed replica, it wouldn’t necessarily have the exact same landing gear, tires, etc.,” said one source familiar with the RQ-170.

“They would probably just use whatever extra F-5 parts or general aviation parts they had lying around.”

Assuming these assessments are accurate, it would nonetheless be a mistake to assume Iran is not serious about developing and proliferating drones, including to its non-state terrorist proxies Hezbollah and Hamas.  Just ask the Israeli Air Force, which just two weeks ago conducted what the Jerusalem Post described as a “massive drill” to contend with just such a threat:

…The drill is part of a series of training exercises designed to prepare pilots for the growing threat of the drones that Hezbollah and Hamas have…

…“This year, we drilled responses to a different type of drone. One that is more advanced, faster and which can remain in the air longer than the standard drone, and therefore it presents a new challenge for air crews,” said Capt. Kobi, the ground safety officer at Ramon Air Base in southern Israel.

“The training on this specific issue is designed to enable a preemptive treatment,” Kobi added. “This threat is growing steadily, and the air force is not closing its eyes and ignoring it, but rather, it is preparing for the hour of need.”