An RFI was launched by the U.S. Authorities describing the requirement for 1:1 reverse-engineered copies of Iran’s Shahed-136 assault drone, additionally utilized by Russia, for use to tell counter UAS ways and applied sciences.
Stars and Stripes reported on the request for data (RFI) on Aug. 20, 2025, noting that the mass-produced Shahed household of drones has been deployed in massive numbers by Russia in opposition to Ukraine – typically numbering 140 sorties per day. The Shahed-136, particularly, is a propeller-powered delta wing plane weighing in round 200 kilograms, with a payload of fifty kilograms. It often features as a easy one-way assault UAV, destroying itself when hanging its goal. There are strategies {that a} variant with a loiter functionality can be found, however this has not been included as a requirement within the RFI.
Normally we solely see the russian Geran-2 (Shahed 136) drones after they’ve been shot down. Right here is a photograph of an intact one on show. pic.twitter.com/RjzMGmX3JL
— DanielR (@DanielR33187703) August 12, 2025
Identified in Russian service as Geran-2, the Shahed-136 is often launched from the bottom or from autos, typically with help from a rocket to permit a close to vertical launch. This permits a single car to hold a lot of Shahed-136s without delay, and launch in fast succession with a view to overwhelm and confuse opposing air defences.
Iran has printed the assorted launch techniques of Shahed-136s loitering munitions for the primary time pic.twitter.com/eO2VBWxFma
— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) November 13, 2023
Submissions from trade should ship a “1:1 copy”, mirroring the shape, match, and performance of the Shahed-136. This implies specs that present a minimal vary of two,500km+, pace as much as 185km/h, size of three.5 metres and width of two.5 metres. The copies should even be propeller powered of the identical measurement and in the identical place because the one used on the unique drone. They are going to be launched pneumatically and fly autonomously from takeoff to touchdown.
No instance of the Shahed-136 shall be supplied to trade with a view to inform proposals, so any events should have the ability to develop their submission independently. The preliminary purchase is projected to incorporate 16 airframes, with a follow-on order possibility for 20 further items.
Slightly than incorporating the drones into its personal arsenal, the copycat drones could be used as surrogates for precise Shahed-136s in coaching workouts and developmental trials. That is to make sure that U.S. navy practices and expertise would have the ability to successfully counter the drone in actual life eventualities.
Firms are inspired to submit each clean-sheet designs in addition to designs that they might have already got in growth. This might result in dual-role designs the place a variant is produced for coaching functions whereas one other is developed to be used as a frontline weapon. The deserves of one-way assault UAVs has not been misplaced on Western armed forces, though many have been comparatively sluggish in publicly adopting such weapons. Producers like MBDA are actually introducing superior ideas of this sort into their product lineups.
MQM-172 Arrowhead
Virtually sure to be submitted as a contender on this RFI and any future tender processes is Griffon Aerospace’s MQM-172 Arrowhead. The Arrowhead, as advised above, is meant each as a goal drone in addition to a frontline weapon. Many commentators have remarked on the platform’s similarity to the Shahed-136, even calling it an unlicensed copy. First unveiled earlier this month, the Arrowhead is claimed to be ‘enhanced’ over the Shahed-136 that it takes inspiration from.
These photos present unlicensed copies of the Iranian Shahed-136 one-way assault drone, produced by Griffon Aerospace in america below the designation MQM-172 Arrowhead. They’re employed each as one-way assault drones and as goal drones. pic.twitter.com/uFPINXPUq0
— Babak Taghvaee – The Disaster Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) August 20, 2025
Just like the Shahed, Griffon says their drone could be launched pneumatically, in addition to with rocket help. The listed payload, which might embody an explosive warhead, digital warfare expertise, or intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance tools, is 100 lbs, or round 45 kg.
Griffon is properly versed within the area of unmanned plane, having delivered over 12,000 techniques as of 2025. The corporate primarily focuses on smaller platforms which, whereas essential for his or her use instances, obtain little consideration in comparison with the bigger plane which might be the bread and butter of trade giants like GA-ASI.
LUCAS
Earlier than the Arrowhead got here the Low-Value Uncrewed Fight Assault System (LUCAS), developed by Spektreworks. Inside the corporate, the drone has been given the designation FLM 136 – a transparent reference to the design that impressed its growth. LUCAS was designed from the outset for use within the risk emulation function, nevertheless its present iteration falls wanting a few of the Shahed-136’s efficiency traits, which might make it unsuitable for this RFI. The small, Arizona-based firm would doubtless want to supply an upgraded variant with a view to be aggressive.
Right here’s the Spec Sheet for the FLM 136 I assume the LUCAS drone is predicated on. About 400 miles of vary, 40 pound payload, with an engine that’s about half the displacement of the Shahed 136’s. pic.twitter.com/U4oe8RoZX1
— Alex Hollings (@AlexHollings52) July 17, 2025
Notably, although each these drones hint their lineage to the Shahed-136, the Shahed-136 itself borrowed closely from elsewhere. The Iranian drone is assumed to have been closely impressed by the Dornier Die Drohne Antiradar, or DAR, which was developed within the Eighties below a plan to overwhelm Soviet air defences. Whereas the DAR by no means entered full scale manufacturing, it’s thought that the design was picked up by Israel Aerospace Industries to type the idea of the IAI Harpy.
Iran would have had many alternatives by way of its varied proxies all through the Center East to accumulate malfunctioning Harpy drones, and even merely copy the design from out there photos/video, and reverse-engineer them into their very own Shahed variants. As growth has diverged through the years, although, even carefully associated platforms can ultimately grow to be very totally different from each other, necessitating additional reverse-engineering of reverse-engineered designs.
