Iranian Army Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari has announced the creation of a new generation drone dubbed Arash-2, which has been developed specifically to hit targets in Israeli coastal city, such as Haifa and Tel Aviv. The general praised the latest addition to the Islamic Republic's Armed Forces as being "peerless".
Heydari said that the drone will only be deployed should a confrontation erupt between Iran and the Jewish state.
The new drone can make multiple approaches, gathering information before landing a strike, the general explained. Arash-2 can also use Fateh missile launches for targeting – the drone can strike the spots where these missiles landed.
The new drone has already been added to the Iranian Army inventory and is expected to be showcased in future military exercises.
The general did not elaborate on the drone's weaponry, which was developed from the Arash-1 kamikaze drone's technology. The latter was capable of hitting a target 1,400 kilometers away from a launch point and had a low radar profile, according to the Iranian military.
Drone development and production is one of the strongest areas of the Iranian domestic defense industry, which saw a significant leap forward following the introduction of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic in 2006. Tehran has unveiled a number of surveillance and strike drones over the years, continuously improving their flight range and impact capabilities.
Iran recently suggested that it could start exporting some of the defense equipment to foreign countries, thus trying to earn a stake in the global arms market.