Ababil-3
Twin-boom tactical ISR UAV, also fielded by Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Sudanese army: base of the Ababil family.
Ababil-3
Twin-boom tactical ISR UAV, also fielded by Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Sudanese army: base of the Ababil family.
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- Ababil-3
- Manufacturer
- HESA
- Country
- Iran
- Year
- 2006
- Category
- ISR (Reconnaissance)
- Class
- Tactical (< 600 kg)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 100 km
- Endurance
- 4 h
- Top speed
- 200 km/h
- Service ceiling
- 5,000 m
- Propulsion
- Pistone WAE-342 ≈ 25 hp, elica spintore
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 85 kg
- Payload
- 45 kg
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- Gimbal EO/IR diurno-notturno
- Datalink / control
- Datalink LOS
- Launch
- Rampa con razzo booster
- Recovery
- Paracadute o pista
Tags
Main operators
History
Developed in the mid-2000s, it is one of Iran's most exported drones: Venezuela started local production as Arpia.
Used for reconnaissance over Israel from Lebanon and during the Yemen war.
The Ababil-3 is one of the longest-lived and most exported Iranian drones, in continuous production since 2006: derived from the Ababil family, it has been used in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Venezuela and Sudan.
The drone has also appeared in conflicts where it is not officially exported, such as the Sudan civil war (2023-present), reflecting the broad diffusion of Iranian UAV technology through grey channels.
The Ababil-3 was the development basis for the Houthi Qasef-1 and Qasef-2K and helped define the typical 'Iranian drone' architecture: tube fuselage, cantilever wing and pusher-propeller piston propulsion.