HESA Karrar

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HESA Karrar
Karrar UAV seen at the 8th International Iran Air Show on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf.
Role	Multirole[1] Type of aircraft
National origin	Iran
Manufacturer	Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA)
Introduction	2010
Status	In production[2]
Primary users	Iran Hezbollah
Produced	2010
Developed from	Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker

The HESA Karrar (Persian: کرار) is an Iranian jet-powered target drone manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) since 2010. The Karrar is a derivative of the American 1970s-era Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone, probably incorporating elements from the South African Skua, with hardpoints added for munitions. The Karrar was developed during the Ahmadinejad presidency.^[3]

As a target drone, the Karrar is used to train air-defense crews by simulating an aerial target. The Karrar is regularly spotted at Iranian air-defense drills, and is believed to be the replacement for Iran's aging American-built MQM-107 target drones.^[4] Karrar jet unmanned-aerial-vehicles are recently equipped with Shahab-e-Saqeb (missile) and with the Majid heat-seeking 8 km range missile in order to hit air targets.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

The Karrar has a small, clipped delta wing mounted low to a cylindrical, blunt-nosed fuselage. It has a dorsal air intake for the engine and twin arrowhead-shaped endplate tailfins mounted high on the fuselage.^[2]

The Karrar uses a rocket assist system to take off and is recovered by parachute.^[2] It is also claimed to be capable of air launch.^[2] Iranian officials have said the aircraft has surveillance capabilities, but the Karrar has no visible EO/IR sensors.^[2] The Karrar is believed to have an autopilot system with INS and/or GPS guidance, and may have terrain following capability as well.^{[citation needed]} The Karrar is capable of both high and low altitude flight,^[11] and of day and night flight.^[12] It can follow a pre-programmed flight path, which can also be updated in flight.^[12]

The Karrar can carry one 500 lb Mk 82 general-purpose bomb, with claimed precision guidance, on its centerline hardpoint. Alternatively, it can carry two Nasr-1 anti-ship missiles,^[a] two Kowsar anti-ship missiles, or two 250 pound Mk 81 general-purpose bombs on the underwing stations, or (since 2019) a Balaban satellite-guided glide bomb.^[2][14][15] It is believed that carrying weapons substantially reduces the Karrar's operating range.^[11]

Military experts quickly noted that Karrar bears an obvious resemblance to the US Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone designed in the 1970s and exported to Iran before the Iranian revolution. According to a report from Denel Dynamics, however, the Karrar is not an exact clone of the MQM-107 Streaker as some design elements have been copied from the Denel Dynamics Skua as well.^[16] Technical data on the Skua was reportedly sold by one of the Skua's export customers to Iran.^[2] Overall, the Karrar is not an exact copy of the MQM-107, and multiple design changes have been made.^[11]

Development of the Karrar was underway as of 2002, possibly under the name "Hadaf-1".^{[17][better source needed]} A subscale model of the Karrar was also seen around 2004. The Karrar is also known as the "Ababil Jet"; the Ababil is an unrelated UAV also offered by the same manufacturer, HESA.^[12] Iran said the Karrar took "500,000 hours" to develop, but independent analysts say this is unlikely.^[18]

The Karrar was unveiled on August 23, 2010, one day after the activation of a nuclear reactor in Bushehr, by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was framed as a "long-range bomber drone,"^[19] and is the first long-range UAV manufactured in Iran.^[20]

Multiple sources report that the Karrar has been exported to Hezbollah.^[21][22] The Karrar has supposedly been used in the Syrian Civil War.^[23]

Defense Update suggests in particular that the Karrar could be useful for using cruise missiles to target ground-based radars and naval ships.^[11] In 2018, Daily Beast reporter Adam Rawnsley said that the Karrar, despite Iranian claims, does not possess the capacity to deploy weapons and is merely a target drone.^[3]

Today, Karrar is regularly used by Iran's air defense force for training.^{[citation needed]} Karrar target drones have been used to test Mersad SAM systems,^[24] S-300PMU-2 SAM systems,^[25] Sayyad-2 SAM systems,^[26] Fakour-90 air-to-air missiles,^[27] and Sayyad-3 SAM systems.^[28]

Iran reportedly used the Karrar to deploy munitions for the first time in a 2020 exercise.^[29]

•  Iran
  • Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force

• Hezbollah

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft: Unmanned 2014-2015^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: none
• Capacity: 227 kg (500 lb) payload
• Length: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
• Max takeoff weight: 700 kg (1,543 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Tolloue 5 or Microturbo TRI 60-5 turbojet , 4.2–4.4 kN (940–990 lbf) thrust (est.)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 900 km/h (560 mph, 490 kn)
• Range: 1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi)
• Combat range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi)

Armament

• Hardpoints: 3 , with provisions to carry combinations of:
  • Missiles:
    2 × Kowsar
    2 x Nasr-1
  • Bombs:
    1 × Mk 82 PGM on centerline
    2 × 250 pound bomb
  • Other:
    1 × Mark 46 torpedo

• Shahed 129

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Galileo Mirach 150
• Tupolev Tu-300
• Alenia Aeronautica Sky-X
• WZ-2000
• Denel Dynamics Skua^[2]
• ADE Lakshya^[2]