Four decades of development stand behind Iran drone industry

The drones Iran has launched in the thousands at Gulf states and US bases since the Middle East war began on February 28, 2026 come from an industry that has been under construction since the mid-1980s, according to research groups that track the programme.

Iran Watch, a project of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, said in a background report published on August 21, 2026 that the programme originated in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. It described drones as part of an asymmetric warfare strategy intended to compensate for Tehran's long-standing disadvantage in conventional manned aircraft.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps formed the Quds Aviation Industry Company in 1985 as a wing of its Self-Sufficiency Organization, according to a history compiled by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran. The company built the Mohajer-1 surveillance drone that year. Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries, known as HESA, began mass production of the Ababil-1 in September 1986, the group said, citing Iranian media linked to the Guards.

Analyst Seth J. Frantzman, in a book excerpt published by the Atlantic Council on November 18, 2021, also dated the first Mohajer flight to 1985. He wrote that early Iranian designs borrowed heavily from 1980s foreign aircraft, including Israel's IAI Scout and the RQ-2 Pioneer.

Exports followed within two decades. Venezuela bought the Mohajer-2 in 2007, according to both accounts. United Against Nuclear Iran said Ababil-T variants went to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to the Houthis in Yemen. A 2018 United Nations panel of experts found the Houthi Qasef-1 drone virtually identical to the Ababil-T, AFP reported at the time. Iran has denied arming the rebels.

Foreign technology shaped the next stage. Iran said in December 2011 that it had captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone by taking control of it electronically, while US officials said the aircraft had malfunctioned, AFP reported. Iranian state television aired footage in November 2014 of what Tehran said was a reverse-engineered copy in flight.

Armed long-endurance aircraft arrived in the same period. The Shahed-129 was unveiled in September 2012 and entered service in September 2013 with a stated endurance of up to 24 hours and a load of eight missiles, according to AFP reports from the time.

The design that changed the industry's reach was the one-way attack drone. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a Missile Threat profile updated on June 2, 2026 that the Shahed-131 made its operational debut in 2019 against Saudi oil facilities and that the larger Shahed-136 was officially unveiled in 2021. CSIS put the unit cost at approximately $20,000 to $50,000 and cited a US Defense Intelligence Agency range estimate of 2,500 km for the Shahed-136. It said the engines of both types derive from British and German designs.

Russia first used the Shahed-136 in Ukraine in September 2022, according to CSIS. The White House said in June 2023 that Iran had transferred hundreds of Shahed and Mohajer series drones to Russia and was supplying material for a factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, UPI reported. AFP reported in March 2026 that the type is now produced by the thousands in Russia as the Geran-2.

That relationship may now run in both directions. Kateryna Bondar, a senior fellow at CSIS, wrote in an analysis published on March 10, 2026 that serial markings on one drone used in Iran's Gulf campaign suggested it came from the Kupol plant in Izhevsk, Russia, and not from Iranian production lines.

Bondar's analysis counted 1,422 drones and 246 missiles recorded against the United Arab Emirates between March 1 and March 8, 2026. Drones made up about 71 percent of all recorded strikes in that period, she wrote. Conventional interceptors cost around $4 million per shot, according to the analysis.

Iran Watch said three state-owned entities build most of the military fleet. Shahed Aviation Industries makes the Shahed series, HESA makes the Ababil series and Qods Aviation Industries makes the Mohajer series. A broad and changing network of private firms supports them in component design and procurement, it said.

The supply chain remains exposed to outside pressure. Iran can assemble drone engines at home, but Iranian companies run procurement networks in China to obtain foreign parts, Iran Watch said in its August 2026 newsletter. The US Treasury on April 21, 2026 sanctioned individuals and companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates over missile and drone procurement, including a UAE-based firm it said had acquired sensors and US-origin aircraft components.

New types continue to appear in combat. Authorities in Iraq's Kurdistan region said two Hadid-110 explosive drones launched from across the Iranian border targeted the regional prime minister's office and the home of its intelligence chief on August 17, 2026, AFP reported. Iran Watch said in the same month that Iranian forces had begun using drone swarms to gather targeting information for combined drone and missile attacks.

CONTACT: https://www.iranwatch.org/our-publications/weapon-program-background-report/table-irans-drone-fleet