HESA Ababil

The HESA Ababil (Persian: ابابیل) is an Iranian family of single-engine multirole tactical unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). The Ababil comes in four main lines, the Ababil-2 ,3, 4 and 5, of which the Ababil-2 has a number of variants. It is considered a long-range, low-technology drone.

For the Pakistani ballistic missile, see Ababeel (missile). For the legendary birds of the Quran, see Ababil (mythology).
HESA Ababil
A Hezbollah Ababil-2 UAV, twin-tail variant with surveillance payload, on display at Mleeta, Lebanon. This specific drone is described as a Mirsad-1.
Role Ababil-1: Loitering munition
  • Ababil-2
    • Ababil-B: Target drone
    • Ababil-S: Surveillance and reconnaissance
    • Qasef-1: Loitering munition
  • Ababil-3, Ababil-4 and Ababil-5: Surveillance and reconnaissance
    • Armed variant: Combat drone
National origin  Iran
Manufacturer HESA Isfahan factory
Design group Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company
First flight 1986
Introduction disputed
Status In service
Primary user  Iran

 Tajikistan
 Iraq
 Sudan
 Syria

Produced 1980s–present
Number built Unknown (Hundreds)

The Ababil program was begun during the Iran–Iraq War. The Ababil-2, developed in the 1990s, has rudimentary surveillance capabilities and can be used as a loitering munition, but is mainly used as a target drone. The larger and more capable Ababil-3, introduced in the 2000s, was designed for Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance use and has improved surveillance capabilities. We have little information about Ababil-4 but it was seen in the 2022 Army Day for the first time. Ababil-5 is the most recent member of this family. It has a greater range and carries more ammunition. Overall, the Ababil has been described "a pretty rough-and-ready system" because of its "cheap, simple, and ease of use."

The Ababil-2 and Ababil-3 have been widely exported to governments and paramilitaries in the Middle East and elsewhere. The Ababil has been used in the 2006 Lebanon War, the Iraq War, and the Sudanese, Syrian, Iraqi, and Yemeni civil wars. Ababil-4 and Ababil-5 (Both unveiled in 2022) are only seen in Iranian service.

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