DEEP DIVE: Iran's Shahed-171, 191 & 161 Stealth UAV Programs (2025). In March 2021, a new chapter in aerial warfare was written when an Israeli F-35 engaged and destroyed an Iranian stealth drone—a world-first for the advanced jet. But what exactly was it up against?
That drone was part of a sophisticated family of stealth UAVs that Iran reverse-engineered from a captured American Sentinel drone. This 2025 intelligence update explores the entire Shahed stealth lineup that the IDF is countering, from the massive Shahed-171 reconnaissance platform to the weaponized Shahed-191 and the nimble Shahed-161 suicide drone. Join us as we connect the dots between Iran's reverse-engineering prowess and the real-world threats Israel faces today.
What is the biggest threat from this drone family? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The first is called the Shahed-171 Simorgh, and it is a boat-for-bolt copy of the Sentinel. It is a long-range, jet-powered reconnaissance vehicle that carries no weapons, with a mission radius of 2,200 km. The next models are versions that are 40% smaller than the original with a wingspan of 7.3 meters. The jet-powered Shahed 191 is designed for reconnaissance and attack and carries four missiles or glide bombs and its mission radius is short, only 500 kilometers. It has a brother named the Shahed 181 that received a piston engine giving it more than twice the range. We encountered the Shahed in the field. In March 2021, Two were intercepted after being sent from Iran with a shipment of weapons for Judea and Samaria as a show-off, a display of force. Their stealth drones were detected and met our stealth jets, and thus the F-35 aircraft recorded its first ever air-to-air kill. The enemy's next stealth UAVs were made even smaller than the original, with a wingspan of just over 5 meters. The Shahed-161 model is a suicide stealth UAV.
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