The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have unveiled new models of unmanned aerial aircraft (UAV) that will be adopted by the military. In a ceremony attended by IRGC Commander-in-chief Hossein Salami, Iran presented its new "Gaza" multipurpose drone.
The new UAV boasts an operational range of 2,000 kilometres and can fill a number of roles – it can be a surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, help in search and rescue missions, and help coordinate efforts in mitigating the aftermath of natural disasters.
In addition, Gaza can also act as a strike drone. The UAV can carry up to 13 bombs and around 500 kilograms of equipment.
The IRGC also showed off the "Quds" radar system and "9 of Dey" missile system during the ceremony.
All of the armaments presented were developed and produced domestically in Iran. The country has been actively developing its defence industry in the last decade yearning to replace foreign weapons' purchases, which became unavailable due to a UN ban. Tehran has achieved significant results in the area of upgrading its military-industrial complex and rolling out domestically-manufactured air defence systems, small arms, military speedboats, warships, and even jets.
The UN ban on arms sales to Iran was lifted in 2020 despite protests by the then-Trump administration, who threatened to slap sanctions on countries that sell weaponry to Tehran. The position of the current administration on the matter remains unclear at this point.