Mohajer-6

Iran’s twin-boom multirole ISTAR/strike UAV — a runway-operated, 12-hour endurance platform armed with precision glide bombs and Almas missiles, exported to Russia, Venezuela, Sudan and others, and seeing combat from Ukraine to the Caribbean.

Overview

The Qods Mohajer-6 (Persian: مهاجر-6) is a single-engine, twin-boom uncrewed aerial vehicle that bridges tactical intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) with light precision strike. First shown publicly in 2016, it sits in the lower end of the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) class — roughly comparable in weight and armament to the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 — and has become Iran’s most widely exported combat drone, according to Wikipedia. Russia, Venezuela, Sudan and Ethiopia all operate the type, and it has seen intense use across the Ukrainian and Sudanese theatres.

Development

Qods Aviation Industry Company unveiled the Mohajer-6 in April 2016 as the first strike-capable evolution of the Mohajer family that has been flying since the 1980s. Mass production began in February 2018, with an initial batch of ten aircraft handed to the IRGC Ground Forces and 40 more planned for the IRGC Navy Wikipedia. The airframe was progressively armed with the Qaem family of precision-guided bombs from 2019, and in August 2022 the Almas anti-tank missile was added to its weapon suite, a move documented by Army Recognition. A follow-on, the heavier Mohajer-10, was exhibited in August 2023, doubling the payload with a claimed 24-hour endurance Unmanned Airspace.

Design & capabilities

The Mohajer-6 is a low-cost, runway-operated design: a 10 m wingspan, 5.67 m fuselage and a fixed tricycle undercarriage. A single Rotax 912iS or 914 four-stroke pusher engine — the 912iS was recovered from a downed Russian-operated example — provides approximately 115 hp, yielding a cruise speed of 130 km/h and a maximum of 200 km/h, according to the teardown analysis by The War Zone. Endurance is around 12 hours, with an Iranian-claimed radius of action of 2 000–2 400 km using satellite or relayed line-of-sight control; tactical operations typically rely on the ground control station’s 200–500 km datalink Wikipedia. The autopilot handles automatic take-off, landing and pre-programmed route flying.

A chin-mounted Oghab-4 multispectral EO/IR turret with a 36× zoom daylight camera, thermal imager and laser rangefinder provides the ISR core, while wreckage inspections have revealed additional Japanese, Chinese and US-made camera components, as well as a laser rangefinder sourced from a foreign supplier Defense Express. The drone carries 100–150 kg of external stores on two (-6A) or four (-6B) hardpoints, plus two fuselage stations in some configurations. The primary munitions are Qaem-1 (IR-homing), Qaem-5 and Qaem-9 (TV-guided) glide bombs with a claimed release envelope of 12–40 km, and the Almas anti-tank missile with an 8 km range; Iranian sources also claim an electronic warfare/jamming pod option Army Recognition.

Variants

• Mohajer-6A — two-hardpoint baseline.
• Mohajer-6B — four-hardpoint expanded strike variant.
• Venezuelan assembly — locally built by EANSA under Qods contract, visually identical.
• Mohajer-10 — successor with 24-h endurance, 300 kg payload, and a claimed 2 000 km operational range, pitched primarily at the Russian export market Unmanned Airspace.

Combat record / operational use

Iran first employed the Mohajer-6 operationally against PJAK Kurdish militants in July 2019, and later against Jaish ul-Adl (2023) and in the September-October 2022 strikes on Kurdish targets in Iraq Wikipedia. The type reached global prominence in Ukraine, where Russia purchased roughly 20 aircraft in 2022 to fill a tactical ISR gap and to help direct Shahed/Geran-2 attacks. Ukraine’s air defences scored the first confirmed Mohajer-6 kill on 23 September 2022, as reported by Defense Express. Days later, Ukrainian forces captured an almost fully intact example in the Black Sea near Odesa; its teardown — broadcast by CNN — revealed a Rotax 912iS engine, components dated February 2022, and a foreign-sourced camera suite, evidence that fed later sanctions cases The War Zone.

Further losses highlighted the drone’s vulnerability. Russia’s own electronic warfare brought down a Mohajer-6 over eastern Crimea on 6–7 June 2023 Militarnyi. A fully armed airframe — carrying two Qaem-5 bombs and bearing the Iranian export tail number ER-858 — crashed in the Kursk region on 26 May 2024, providing the first public evidence of Russia flying armed Mohajer-6s Militarnyi Army Recognition. In August 2025, Ukrainian Navy strikes on the Khersones airfield in occupied Crimea destroyed up to three Mohajer-6s alongside two Forpost UAVs LIGA.net.

Outside Europe, Iran has supplied Mohajer-6s to Sudan’s army (used during the Battle of Khartoum) and to Ethiopia Wikipedia. In December 2025, the first photographic evidence emerged of Venezuelan-assembled Mohajer-6s at El Libertador Air Base, accompanied by US Treasury sanctions naming EANSA as the local assembler; Defense Express assesses the deployment is aimed at targeting US landing craft in a contingency, with Caracas signalling its readiness to use the drones against US naval vessels The War Zone Defense Express.

Advantages

• Low-cost runway-operated strike-ISR package with up to four precision munitions (Qaem series, Almas), delivering stand-off reach of 20–40 km from release.
• 12-hour endurance and 200–500 km control-link range suit maritime patrol, border surveillance and over-the-horizon target acquisition.
• Robust export product with technology-transfer/local-assembly options; the Venezuelan assembly line and Sudan deliveries extend Iranian defence diplomacy.
• Autopilot with automatic take-off/landing and pre-set routes reduces crew workload and enables beyond-line-of-sight operations.
• Multi-mission potential through claimed ESM/communications-jamming payloads.

Drawbacks / limitations

• Heavily reliant on foreign commercial components — roughly 75% of parts are sourced abroad, including the Rotax engine and Japanese/Chinese/US sensors, making production vulnerable to sanctions enforcement Defense Express The War Zone.
• Slow (200 km/h max) and unstealthy; highly susceptible to modern air defence and electronic warfare, as demonstrated by repeated combat deaths in Ukraine and the Crimea.
• Munitions (Qaem 12–40 km, Almas ~8 km) require the airframe to edge close to defended airspace, unlike true MALE strike platforms.
• Small deployed fleets and thin spares pipelines: Ukraine judged restoring its captured example impractical Defense Express.
• Russian operational use has tailed off as losses mounted and as the Ukrainians adapted their air-defence posture Militarnyi.

Counterparts

• Bayraktar TB2 (Turkey)
• Orlan-10 (Russia)

Outlook

The Mohajer-6’s future rests on its role as an export and proxy workhorse for lower-threat environments. Combat attrition in Ukraine has exposed the platform’s inability to survive against layered defences, but demand persists in Iran’s maritime surveillance (IRGC Navy), the Venezuelan Caribbean, and various African conflicts. The heavier Mohajer-10, with its doubled payload and longer endurance, is being positioned to take over the strike-ISR niche for customers such as Russia. The main brake on production volume remains the interruption of Western-origin critical components — notably the Rotax engine and EO turrets — that keeps output at a modest scale The War Zone.

Key specifications

Sources

1. Wikipedia — Qods Mohajer-6 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qods_Mohajer-6
2. Defense Express — Venezuela Deploys Iranian Mohajer-6 Drones, Already Used Against Ukraine, to Target U.S. Naval Vessels — https://en.defence-ua.com/news/venezuela_deploys_iranian_mohajer_6_drones_already_used_against_ukraine_to_target_us_naval_vessels-17032.html
3. The War Zone (TWZ) — Rotax Engine Found In Iranian Mohajer-6 Drone Downed Over Ukraine — https://www.twz.com/rotax-engine-found-in-iranian-mohajer-6-drone-downed-over-ukraine
4. The War Zone (TWZ) — Iranian Strike-Surveillance Drones Are Now Operating In Venezuela — https://www.twz.com/news-features/iranian-mohajer-6-drones-now-operating-in-venezuela
5. Defense Express — Iranian Mohajer-6 UAV Was Shot Down In Ukraine for the First Time — https://en.defence-ua.com/weapon_and_tech/first_time_in_ukraine_shot_down_iranian_uav_mohajer_6-4318.html
6. Militarnyi — In occupied Crimea, Russians shot down their own Mohajer-6 UAV — https://militarnyi.com/en/news/in-occupied-crimea-russians-shot-down-their-own-mohajer-6-uav/
7. Militarnyi — Russia's own Mohajer-6 drone spotted crashed in Kursk region — https://militarnyi.com/en/news/russia-s-own-mohajer-6-drone-spotted-crashed-in-kursk-region/
8. LIGA.net — The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed a base of rare Mohajer-6 and "Forpost" reconnaissance drones in Crimea — https://news.liga.net/en/politics/news/the-armed-forces-of-ukraine-destroyed-a-base-of-rare-mohajer-6-and-forpost
9. Army Recognition — First armed Iranian-made Mohajer-6 UAV used by Russia in Ukraine crashes near Kursk — https://www.armyrecognition.com/focus-analysis-conflicts/army/conflicts-in-the-world/russia-ukraine-war-2022/first-armed-iranian-made-mohajer-6-uav-used-by-russia-in-ukraine-crashes-near-kursk
10. Unmanned Airspace — Mohajer-10: Iran exhibits new combat UAS with extended range and payload — https://www.unmannedairspace.info/counter-uas-systems-and-policies/mohajer-10-iran-exhibits-new-combat-uas-with-extended-range-and-payload/