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Introduction : Based in Mashhad, the Havanirooz's 5th Combat Group is responsible for providing rotary-wing support to the Ground Force's Northeast Operations Headquarters . Its relatively small size means it lacks some of the capabilities of the IRIAA's other bases . The group was established between 1992 and 1996 in response to the lack of regional aviation and the pressing need for border security during Afghanistan's civil war. [1] As of 2014 the base was commanded by Col. Abdulreza Khodadi. [2] Employment : In the conventional role the 5th CG is expected to perform attack and air assault missions to support corps-level maneuver, consistent with the IRIAA's broader doctrine. While the IRIAA has traditionally maintained a robust air assault capability, the 5th CG's small size means that they would be restricted to small actions. This was demonstrated during exercises in November 2015 when units from the northeast operations HQ were reinforced with heavy-lift

This past August, the governor of Ilam met with a team from the Artesh to examine whether or not UAVs could be used to help fight the wildfires blazing across the mountainous province in western Iran. As part of this process, the team conducted a demonstration flight. This event was captured by photographers from IRNA who have published some of the most comprehensive images of the system's support equipment seen thusfar. The full gallery is available here . The article describing the evaluation is available here . The UAV in question was a recent-generation Mohajer-4, which can be distinguished from earlier examples by its streamlined fuselage. It is likely operated by the Army's Ground Forces, though the Air Force is a plausible alternative. One crew-member wore an unrecognizable patch on the front of his jumpsuit. This example bears the serial "P062A-36". This is consistent with the only other documented serial of this type - P062A-007 - which was found on an airfra

This post first appeared on the website OSIMINT on January 8, 2014. It is preserved here as an archive. Some brief edits have been made for clarity and grammar. --- Before the demands of war led to the use of rotary and fixed-wing attack aircraft, pro-Assad forces in Syria used lightweight UAVs for aerial surveillance. Since they were first documented over Homs in February 2012, footage of Iranian built AB-3 tactical UAVs have increasingly appeared in open-source reporting. Since the Summer of 2013 AB-3s have been joined by smaller Yasir UAVs, also built by Iran. Insurgents downed their first UAV in May 2013 and have brought down at least eight more since. Open-source reporting indicates that the majority of UAVs have been deployed to Damascus. 80% of all AB-3 sightings took place over the capital. This likely reflects both the importance of the capital, and the project's evidence bias. There's no way to know whether or not aerial activity over Damascus is more likely to be rec

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Index : Introduction Mohajer-1 - Development - Technical Assessment - Use - Recognition Features Mohajer-2 - Development - Technical Assessment and Specifications - Variants - Use - Recognition Features Mohajer-3 - Development - Technical Assessment and Specifications - Use - Recognition Features Mohajer-4 - Development - Technical Assessment and Specifications - Variants - Use - Recognition Features Appendix: Documented Airframes and Serials Footnotes/ Works-Cited Introduction : The Mohajer family encompasses a range of tactical surveillance UAVs, and are among the most well known and mature Iranian designs. Developed during the height of the Iran-Iraq war by the Qods Aviation Industry Company, they continue to be used by various branches of the Iranian military. Though not as widespread in foreign service as the Ababil, they have increasingly been seen over Iraq and Syria. The Mohajer's name is often translated as immigrant or emmigrant, but is likely intended to specifically inv

Overview : Iran's current Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics was created in 1989 by the Rafsanjani government in a bid to streamline and centralize the military's procurement system. In this restructuring, the parallel ministries tasked with wartime logistics – the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of the IRGC – were folded into one another, doing away with the worst of the wasteful duplication, and compartmentalization. 1 Today, MODAFL is responsible for providing logistical support to the Armed Forces, and for managing the associated military industries. Specifically, their responsibilities are: 2 - Production and manufacture of new equipment. - Maintenance of existing equipment. - Coordination of intra and inter-service research under unified oversight. - Foreign purchases. Unlike other defense ministries around the world, the MODAFL is NOT responsible for shaping defense policy. Instead, this authority flows to the IRGC and Army from the Armed Forces Gener