Iran Unveils Programmable Drone

Iran has unveiled a new indigenous programmable drone that moves according to the flight plan in specified routes as part of its army day celebrations, local media reported Saturday.

"Basir is a self-control drone that moves according to the flight plan in the specified routes and land in the same take-off point after ending its mission," an official of the Northwestern city of Zanjan's 216 Armored Brigade Mohammad Mohammadi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

The drone is designed to gather samples from areas with chemical contamination and also keeps an eye on areas afflicted with natural disasters. Basir can also be armed with different weapons that can be used for other missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance.

Iran has a fleet of fire and forget drones. The indigenously-made Ra'd (Thunder) 85 which can be reprogrammed to destroy specific and changing targets hundreds of miles away with maximum precision, a ground force commander said.

Fire-and-forget is a type of missile guidance system that does not need to be guided after launch by such techniques as marking the target or wired guidance; these systems can hit targets without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the target.

The Islamic Republic plans to ramp up the number of its home-made drones within the next five years, and operate long-range ones for very distant missions.