Iran's pirate weapons industry is cloning Western military hardware for Russia

Iran presents what is purportedly an American RQ-170 Sentinel drone in Tehran

But after the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini took power, Iran was cut off from its chief military supplier and relations with the US have remained hostile ever since. Sitting on a stockpile of ageing American weapons, but unable to replace or repair them with new parts, Iran set about building its own versions.

“Most observers thought the still state-of-the-art Tomcats would quickly become inoperable without US support,” he said. “Instead, Iran kept some flying and the Iraqi air force remained wary of coming into contact with the more capable Iranian pilots.”

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