Shahed-129

An Iranian reusable medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft built for persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions.

Overview

The Shahed-129 is an Iranian medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and armed missions. Unlike the one-way Shahed-131 and Shahed-136, it is a runway-launched aircraft intended to return after a sortie. Its configuration combines a rear-mounted pusher propeller, an electro-optical sensor turret and underwing weapon stations, giving Iran a reusable platform for sustained observation and guided strikes.

Iranian and secondary reporting attributes approximately 24 hours of endurance, a range or operational radius near 1,700 km, and a ceiling around 7,300 m to the aircraft. These figures have not been independently demonstrated in public. The Critical Threats Project describes the Shahed-129 as one of the Iranian drone models used most extensively across the Middle East and details its reported specifications and operational history.

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