page_title: HESA Karrar
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: HESA Karrar / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: A HESA Karrar UAV during Iran's "Sacred Defense Week 2010" with a Mk. 82 bomb mounted on the centerline.
context_page_description: The HESA Karrar is an Iranian jet-powered target drone manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company since 2010. The Karrar is a derivative of the American 1970s-era Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone, probably incorporating elements from the South African Skua, with hardpoints added for munitions. The Karrar was developed during the Ahmadinejad presidency.
  As a target drone, the Karrar is used to train air-defense crews by simulating an aerial target. The Karrar is regularly spotted at Iranian air-defense drills, and is believed to be simply the replacement for Iran's aging American-built MQM-107 target drones.
context_section_description: The Karrar has a small, clipped delta wing mounted low to a cylindrical, blunt-nosed fuselage. It has a dorsal air intake for the engine and twin arrowhead-shaped endplate tailfins mounted high on the fuselage.
   
  The Karrar uses a rocket assist system to take off and is recovered by parachute. It is also claimed to be capable of air launch. Iranian officials have said the aircraft has surveillance capabilities, but the Karrar has no visible EO/IR sensors. The Karrar is believed to have an autopilot system with INS and/or GPS guidance, and may have terrain following capability as well. The Karrar is capable of both high and low altitude flight, and of day and night flight. It can follow a pre-programmed flight path, which can also be updated in flight.
  The Karrar can carry one 500 lb Mk 82 general-purpose bomb, with claimed precision guidance, on its centerline hardpoint. Alternatively, it can carry two Nasr-1 anti-ship missiles, two Kowsar anti-ship missiles, or two 250 pound Mk 81 general-purpose bombs on the underwing stations, or (since 2019) a Balaban satellite-guided glide bomb. It is believed that carrying weapons substantially reduces the Karrar's operating range.
  Military experts quickly noted that Karrar bears an obvious resemblance to the US Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone designed in the 1970s and exported to Iran before the Iranian revolution. According to a report from Denel Dynamics, however, the Karrar is not an exact clone of the MQM-107 Streaker as some design elements have been copied from the Denel Dynamics Skua as well. Technical data on the Skua was reportedly sold by one of the Skua's export customers to Iran. Overall, the Karrar is not an exact copy of the MQM-107, and multiple design changes have been made.
caption: A Karrar with a Mk 82 bomb mounted on the centerline hardpoint.
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