Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance imagery
- Automatic and operator-controlled flight
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA)
- Origin / production countries
- Iran
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- Iran — Army exercise use reported
Evidence & current status
Service evidence is a dated operator statement; public fleet totals and export variants are not independently established.
Ababil-3 is a reconnaissance aircraft that the US Army’s ODIN guide attributes to Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, HESA. Despite its family name, the guide stresses that its physical arrangement differs from other Ababil models. It has a central fuselage, a rear-mounted wing arrangement and an H-shaped twin-boom tail.
The same reference describes wheeled take-off and landing, a forward-facing camera and an under-fuselage sensor installation. It discusses both operator-controlled and automatic flight modes. Automatic flight should not be read as evidence that the aircraft independently makes every mission decision.
An Iranian Army exercise account in October 2023 names Ababil-3 among the aircraft flown. That statement, attributed to the exercise leadership through the state broadcaster, adds a dated operator claim to the external equipment recognition. It does not identify the sensor fit or production batch of every participating aircraft.
This record keeps the model separate from Ababil-2 and later Ababil-4/5 references. Historical reference performance is useful for orientation, but current configuration differences and inconsistent public range definitions make a single universal family specification unreliable. Export and serviceability questions remain separate from the evidence that the aircraft exists and has been publicly reported in use.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Twin-boom, H-tail fixed wing | ODIN description. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Runway take-off and landing | Wheeled aircraft configuration. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | 5 m span; 3.5 m length; 1 m height | Historic JAPCC reference. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | 4 hours | Historic JAPCC reference. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 200 km/h | Reference does not define flight condition. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Forward camera and rotating imaging installation | Reference describes thermal/night imaging; production standard not specified. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Named in Army drone exercise
Exercise leadership names Ababil-3 among the aircraft flown.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- US Army ODIN — Ababil-3 airframe and manufacturer (opens in a new tab)Government / military source
- Press TV — Army exercise leadership names Ababil-3, 3 October 2023 (opens in a new tab)State media reporting operator statement
- JAPCC — Ababil-3 fact sheet, printed page 555 (opens in a new tab)Government / military source