Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday that it had shot down a US-made RQ-11 Raven reconnaissance drone over the southwestern city of Ramshir in Khuzestan province, amid heightened tensions with Washington.
In a statement carried by Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC said the AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven was “intercepted and destroyed” by an advanced air defence system operating within Iran’s integrated air defence network.
The IRGC described the RQ-11 Raven as a lightweight tactical reconnaissance drone manufactured by US company AeroVironment for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions.
According to the statement, the drone is capable of transmitting real-time daytime and nighttime imagery to a ground control station and has an operational range of about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) with an endurance of 60 to 90 minutes. It is used for target reconnaissance, battlefield monitoring, battle damage assessment and tactical support.
The IRGC said the drone is widely used by the US military and several other countries due to its portability and rapid deployment capabilities, describing it as one of the world’s most successful small military drone systems.
The US military did not immediately comment on the Iranian claim.