A Shahed-136 on display during the 44th anniversary of the Iranian revolution in Tehran, on Feb. 11, 2023.
Photographer: Sobhan Farajvan/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
Iran’s Better, Stealthier Drones Are Remaking Global Warfare
Countries from Central Asia to South America are building their own killer tech based on Iranian designs — often with US components.
In January, rebels fighting the Sudanese army shot down a drone near Khartoum. As jubilant gunmen posted video of the wreckage on social media, they offered a fresh data point on how Iranian technology is remaking the global weapons trade.
The drone in the video, which is clearly modeled after Iran’s Ababil model — the workhorse of paramilitaries across the Middle East since it was developed in the 1990s — reflected a design tweak: Its two front tires, instead of the usual one, provided actual battlefield evidence that Sudan is modifying the Iranian drone into its own weapon, which it calls the Zagel-3.