Ababil

Ababil
Type:	drone
Design country:	Iran
Manufacturer:

Tail unit of a drone shot down by the Israeli army on August 7, 2006 in use by Hezbollah

Ababil ( Persian ابابیل) is an Iranian drone . The name comes from Sura 105 and describes a species of bird there.

Technical specifications

The drone is designed as a canard . It is about 2.90 meters long and has a wingspan of 3.50 meters. The operating radius is up to 150 km, the load capacity of payloads up to 45 kg. The Ababil-3 has a top speed of 200 km / h and a service ceiling of up to 5,000 meters. The aircraft is propelled by a rotary engine and launched from a catapult , if necessary with the help of a rocket . At first it was used for air defense , later used for reconnaissance and air strikes .

Ababil-3 at an arms exhibition in Iran

Calls

The development of Ababil began in the 1980s. In the Iraq war in 2005 a US fighter plane destroyed an Iranian Ababil over Iraq . In the 2006 Lebanon War , Iran delivered drones of this type to Hezbollah , which uses them under the name Mirsad 1 for reconnaissance or as cruise missiles in the fight against Israel . On August 7, 2006, an Israeli F-16 fighter aircraft shot down a drone of this type 10 km off the coast of Haifa with a Python-5 (see picture on the right). The Sudanese Air Force also has an unknown number of Ababil drones.

During a Hamas parade in Gaza on December 14, 2014 to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the organization, the Israeli Air Force sighted an Ababil drone.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data from the HESA Ababil-2 (AB2)	Data from the HESA Ababil-3 (AB3)
length	2.8 m	3.5 m
span	3.25 m	5 m
height	unknown	1 m
Empty mass	approx. 30 kg	unknown
Max. Takeoff mass	83 kg	unknown
payload	40 kg	unknown
Marching speed	250-305 km / h	unknown
Max. speed	unknown	200 km / h
Service ceiling	3000+ m	5000 m
Use radius	unknown	100 km
Max. Flight duration	1 ¼ - 2 h	4 h
Avionics	unknown	night vision capable, electro-optical cameras