Introducing the Kaman-22: Iran's New Long Range Attack Drone Capable of Striking Across the Middle East

Iran has unveiled its latest class of attack drone the Kaman-22 (meaning Arrow-22 in Farsi) which reportedly has entered “the final stages of production” and has an endurance which far exceeds those of its rivals in the U.S. Air Force the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. The new drone closely resembles the two American aircraft, as well as the Chinese Wing Loong series, and notably is it built around a stealth airframe as other Iranian designs have been. The Kaman-22 reportedly has a range of almost 3000km (quoted as 1,860 miles) and a very high endurance of up to 24 hours - and is not the first Iranian drone reportedly designed to operate at such ranges. For comparison, the American Predator and Reaper have ranges of 1240km and 1850km, while the range of China’s Wing Loong lies between the two. It remains uncertain, however, whether this 3000km endurance refers to a fully armed Kaman-22 drone or not, with more weapons carried translating to a shorter range for all aircraft. While many major new weapons systems in Iran have been fielded exclusively by the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for the large majority of overseas military operations, the Kaman-22 appears to be intended for the country’s Air Force. Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, stated regarding the new aircraft’s capabilities: “The Kaman-22 drone is capable of carrying all types of payloads with very long flight duration [and] has the ability to identify, monitor, and collect information and photograph distant targets.”

The Kaman-22 is hardly the first Iranian drone to closely resemble the American Predator’s design, with the Shahed-129 having a similar appearance and having been combat tested intensively against insurgent groups in Syria to support Iranian forces engaged there. Iranian drones have proven highly capable in combat conditions in the past, and won praise from former Israeli officials as “highly sophisticated” for their effectiveness in evading Israeli air defences on reconnaissance missions. Although Iran’s defence sector is overall considered unremarkable, drones are considered it most outstanding strength with the development of flying wing stealth drones for combat operations in particular unseen elsewhere in the world. The Kaman-22 will likely form a cheaper counterpart to stealth designs such as the Shahed-191, and was shown carrying four Sadid guided bombs and two Balaban glide bombs. The use of guided munitions is an effective force multiplier which allows Iranian forces to strike much more precisely and thereby by reduce the need for deploying large numbers of aircraft. Although the United Nations arms embargo on Iran was lifted in October 2020, and Iran has since been expected to place orders for new classes of high end manned fighter aircraft, the strength of the country’s domestic industry for producing drones has provided an effective alternative which has somewhat reduced its need for new foreign made fighter aircraft.