South Front
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Tasnim News Agency.
On April 9, the Ground Forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force unveiled a new suicide drone dubbed “Meraj-532”.
Head of the IRGC’s Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, General Ali Kouhestani, told the semi-official Tasnim News Agency that teh suicide drone is powered by a piston engine and has a range of up to 450 kilometers in a suicide attack missions.
The Meraj-532, which takes off from a vehicle, has a service ceiling of over 3,6 kilometers and an endurance of up to three hours.
“With its 50-kilogram warhead, the drone can hit the desired targets with high accuracy. Additionally, the drone’s design is of the easy set-up type, reducing the time of its preparation and increasing the speed of reaction and use,” Gen. Koushestani said.
The Tasnim News Agency released footage showing a successful live-fire test of the Meraj-532 suicide drone against a static target.
The drone does not appear to be equipped with any homing seeker, which suggest that it is guided by a satellite-aided inertial navigation system like many other Iranian suicide drones, including the Shahed-136 and Arash-2.
The design of the Meraj-532 is very similar to that of the Morad-5, a smaller suicide drone that was used by shadowy pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups in attacks against U.S. forces on several occasions in the last few years.
The Morad-5 suicide drone. Click to see full-size image.
Iran is today one of the world leading powers in drone technology. Tehran expanded its drone programme and made several technological breakthroughs in recent years despite repeated Israeli threats as well as sanctions by the United States and the European Union.
