Drones in the Iran war
The 2026 Iran war, including Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s parallel Operation Roaring Lion, has involved one-way attack UAVs, surveillance-and-attack drones, counter-UAS systems, and long-range Israeli UAV operations.
What drones are documented here?
The strongest official public identification is at the system level: CENTCOM names MQ-9 and LUCAS, while US defense analysis names Shahed-136. Israel’s official assessment describes a large UAV effort but does not name every airframe.
| Drone | Manufacturer | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shahed-136 / Geran-2 Shahed-136 · Geran-2 | Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA); Russian production under the Geran-2 name | One-way attack UAV used for long-range strike missions. | Confirmed system use |
| MQ-9 Reaper MQ-9 · Predator B | General Atomics Aeronautical Systems | Long-endurance surveillance and attack UAV. | Confirmed system use |
| LUCAS one-way attack drone LUCAS | US government program; the cited CENTCOM fact sheet does not identify a prime manufacturer | Low-cost one-way attack UAV listed among US assets in Operation Epic Fury. | Confirmed system use |
| Hermes 450 / Zik Hermes 450 · Zik | Elbit Systems | Tactical multi-role UAV used for surveillance, target marking, and other missions. | Confirmed system use |
How the evidence should be interpreted
This page maps named platforms to the conflict based on the sources below. It does not turn a manufacturer’s product page into proof of a particular battlefield event, and it does not treat every military statement as independently verified. The individual drone pages explain exactly what each source establishes.
The word “used” can mean different things: a platform may be fielded by a combatant, supplied to a combatant, identified in debris, or named in an official inventory. Those are different evidence levels, which is why this page shows the status beside every system.
Conflict timeline
February 2026–present
Iranian drone program versus this war page
This war page is a conflict inventory for the 2026 Iran war, not a full map of Iran’s UAV program.
For producer, family, and export context, continue on Iran drones and Shahed drones.
Named systems on this page still keep their evidence labels and link to their canonical war-drone profiles.
Iran war drone FAQ
What drones are documented in the Iran war?
Shahed-136 / Geran-2, MQ-9 Reaper, LUCAS one-way attack drone, Hermes 450 / Zik are the named systems in this first-release evidence set. The list is not a claim that these are the only drones present in the conflict.
How reliable is drone identification in the Iran war?
Reliability varies. Official releases and manufacturer records support confirmed entries; open-source and monitoring reports support reported entries. Incident-level claims need separate verification.