The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says they have test flown a domestically designed model of a US-made RQ-170 unmanned aerial vehicle which was grounded in 2011 and later reverse-engineered by Iranian experts.
Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Division of the IRGC, said on Monday, "A final model of the stealth drone has been manufactured and the relevant footage of its first flight will be released in the future," IRNA reported.
Hajizadeh made the remarks on the sidelines of an exhibition showcasing IRGC's aerospace advances in Tehran.
In December 2011, the armed forces announced they brought down the American aircraft with minimal damage while it was flying over Iran some 225 kilometers from the Afghan border.
The US military acknowledged it lost the plane and later Washington requested Tehran to return the aircraft. Iran rejected that request and demanded an apology for US intelligence operation over its territory.
