IAIO Fotros (Fallen Angel)

History

Over the past decade, Iran has been working to expand its unmanned aerial system (UAS) product portfolio with some memorable and promising results. Iran has been partially helped by shooting down and capturing Western drones roaming its airspace, and the Iranians have converted several useful copies of these products for their own use. The IAIO "Fotros" ("Fallen Angel") is a major improvement over the previous type and is classified as an Unmanned Combat Aircraft (UCAV), which means its air-launched missile weapons capabilities exceed standard Intelligence Reconnaissance Surveillance (ISR) characters on the battlefield.

The system's maiden flight is said to have taken place in November 2013, with a grand presentation to the public that same month.

From the looks of it, the Fotoros must have taken the design form of several drones of Western origin (including the nose that appears to mimic the General Atom Predator). It features a straight-wing main aircraft layout, dual cantilever tails and rear-mounted conventional engine mounts. The engine drives a two-bladed propeller in a "thrust" arrangement.

The nose of the plane is spherical and likely houses avionics, while optics and other mission equipment are placed on the belly. The landing gear is movable and retractable - the Fotoros can only take off and land from prepared runways.

Each of its wings supports at least one hardpoint for carrying anti-tank missiles (ATGMs) or other precision attack weapons.

Fotoros are manufactured by the Iranian Aviation Industry Organization (IAIO). The vehicle should have an operating time of around 30 hours and a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. Service is reportedly capped at 25,000 feet.

Of course, due to Iranian secrecy, these values ??can all be considered suspicious until formally proven.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes