Mystery: What is flying in the Damascus skies?
Are these Iranian drones or an Israeli-made UAV that was sold to Western countries? Ronen Solomon tries to answer
Ronen Solomon
| 22/02/2015
Mystery drone over the skies of Damascus: On April 10, rebels in Syria uploaded a video documenting an advanced tactical drone over the skies of Damascus. The drone, which has design features reminiscent of the Hermes 450, brought commentators to estimate at first sight that it seems to be the advanced Iranian UAV Shahed 129, built as a replica of the Hermes 450.
However, careful analysis of the video indicates that it is not the known Iranian UAV. It could be the tactical UAV Hermes 900 or a similar version of it, available perhaps in the hands of the Turkish army or NATO forces. The main reason lies in the unique design of the rear wings of the UAV (as visible in the imagery comparison) as well as the structure of the nose of the UAV. In the documentation from Damascus it seems clear that the rear wing is sharp and jagged just like the wing of the Hermes 900 and unlike the symmetrical wing of the Iranian Shahed 129. So is the UAV's internal structure characterized by a prominent and rounded nose like that of the Hermes 900 and unlike the flat and symmetry nose of the Iranian Shahed 129.
Additional features that contradict the fact that this is the Shahed 129 are related to the location of the front wheels, antennas, flight speed, maneuverability and even a mass of the drone. It is possible that this is an upgraded model of the Iranian Shahed 129, however, until now every operational Iranian drone that has been identified above Syria was officially launched months earlier in Iran.
Even if this is not a Hermes UAV, and indeed it is some kind of an Iranian aircraft, it is clear that the Iranian UAV industry is thriving. An extensive article on the subject was published on IsraelDefense.
Mystery drone over the skies of Damascus: On April 10, rebels in Syria uploaded a video documenting an advanced tactical drone over the skies of Damascus. The drone, which has design features reminiscent of the Hermes 450, brought commentators to estimate at first sight that it seems to be the advanced Iranian UAV Shahed 129, built as a replica of the Hermes 450.
However, careful analysis of the video indicates that it is not the known Iranian UAV. It could be the tactical UAV Hermes 900 or a similar version of it, available perhaps in the hands of the Turkish army or NATO forces. The main reason lies in the unique design of the rear wings of the UAV (as visible in the imagery comparison) as well as the structure of the nose of the UAV. In the documentation from Damascus it seems clear that the rear wing is sharp and jagged just like the wing of the Hermes 900 and unlike the symmetrical wing of the Iranian Shahed 129. So is the UAV's internal structure characterized by a prominent and rounded nose like that of the Hermes 900 and unlike the flat and symmetry nose of the Iranian Shahed 129.
Additional features that contradict the fact that this is the Shahed 129 are related to the location of the front wheels, antennas, flight speed, maneuverability and even a mass of the drone. It is possible that this is an upgraded model of the Iranian Shahed 129, however, until now every operational Iranian drone that has been identified above Syria was officially launched months earlier in Iran.
Even if this is not a Hermes UAV, and indeed it is some kind of an Iranian aircraft, it is clear that the Iranian UAV industry is thriving. An extensive article on the subject was published on IsraelDefense.
