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Analysis : What used to attack saudi oil facilities?

SOHEIL

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There are so many rumors and claims about it's being a false flag operation or russian weapons or technology behind it ... etc

I just want to shed some light on it ... (From technical point of view)

It seems 2 types of drones & 1 type of cruise missile used in this operation :

  1. Unknown number of delta wing suicide drones powered by wankel (rotary) engines
  2. Unknown Jet powered UCAV which is able to carry 4 smart bombs
  3. Quds-1 cruise missiles

1. Delta wing suicide drones (The name of this suicide drone is unknown)

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.18_19h21m15s_004_.jpg

Origins : Iranian design (Shahed Aviation Industries) Made in yemen under licence

Engine : High efficient Shahed-783 wankel (rotary) engine

Range : +1500 km (one way trip)

Here you can see the original aircraft in Iran :

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.19_20h47m41s_001_.jpg

Shahed-783 wankel engine :

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.18_21h20m42s_013_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.18_21h15m51s_011_.jpg

2. Unknown Jet powered UCAV

(Disclaimer: This is just my opinion base on available information and evidences)

Yemeni army spokesman said a Jet powered UCAV Also used in the attack!

There are 2 known jet powered UCAVs in Iran's inventory (Which are able to carry 4 smart bombs):

  1. Shahed-171 (The presence of this drone in yemen is unlikely !)
  2. Shahed-161 (Saeghe) Jet powered variant

Shahed-171 :

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.16_13h38m31s_009_.jpg

The level of sophistication in this drone is beyond yemenis local production capabilities !

(Jet engine - flight control computer - etc)

Shahed-161 :

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.19_21h07m51s_002_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.19_21h12m17s_003_.jpg
Shahed-161 Jet powered variant (Shahed-161 Piston engine variant behind it)

upload_2019-9-19_21-13-9.png
Shahed-161 with 4 smart bombs (Shahed-171 & 129 behind it)

Engine : Tolou(طلوع)-10 (?-Possible name) (Which also used in Shahed-191)

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.14_23h47m58s_004_.jpg
Shahed-191 & Tolou-10 engine

The presence of Tolou-10 engine in yemen confirmed here :

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.14_23h53m13s_006_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.18_19h52m38s_007_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.18_20h05m31s_008_.jpg
Tolou-10 engine onboard Quds-1 cruise missile

3. Quds-1 cruise missiles

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.14_23h39m11s_003_.jpg

Type : LACM (Land Atack Cruise Missile)

Engine : Tolou(طلوع)-10 (Which also used in Shahed-191 & 161 and probably Ya Ali LACM)

Range : +1500 km (Demonstrated in the attack)

  • It's not Kh-55 (or Iranian version Soumar) Cruise Missile
  • It's not Ya Ali Cruise Missile
It's smaller than Soumar in size and have visual differences and a different power plant !

Soumar powered by a turbofan engine but Tolou-10 is a turbojet !

Visual differences :

Quds-1 :
Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.15_21h19m10s_009_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.15_21h17m09s_008_.jpg

Soumar :
Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.15_21h24m29s_011_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.15_21h23m17s_010_.jpg

And it's not even Ya Ali Cruise Missile :

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.18_20h16m16s_009_.jpg Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.19_22h00m01s_004_.jpg

But probably Ya Ali components used on Quds-1(?)

Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.19_22h02m55s_005_.jpg
Tolou-10 engine(?)

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Thanks for your time - SOHEIL
 
Last edited:
Great post, thank you.

Only a few points:

1) Jet powered UCAV should be among wreckage (but not seen) and would not be a suicide drone if it carries 4 PGM/bombs, so it doesn't really make full sense to me...

2) Range of Qods 1 very unlikely to be 1500km! Even latest Iranian Hoveizeh CM range is 1350km (Soumar 700km), and Hoveizeh/Soumar are larger than Qods 1...
 
Great post, thank you.

Only a few points:

1) Jet powered UCAV should be among wreckage (but not seen) and would not be a suicide drone if it carries 4 PGM/bombs, so it doesn't really make full sense to me...

2) Range of Qods 1 very unlikely to be 1500km! Even latest Iranian Hoveizeh CM range is 1350km (Soumar 700km), and Hoveizeh/Soumar are larger than Qods 1...

Bro ... Never trust in those numbers ... Sejjil-2 Ballistic missile's range is beyond 2000 km !

But ... you know ... 2000 km is a holy number :D

Soumar is +2000 km !

Soumar powered by a high efficient turbofan engine ... how can Hoveizeh with a turbojet and its higher fuel consumption go farther !?

It's not funny ?
 
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Bro ... Never trust in those numbers ... Sejjil-2 Ballistic missile's range is beyond 2000 km !

But ... you know ... 2000 km is a holy number :D

Soumar is +2000 km !

Soumar powered by a high efficient turbofan engine ... how can Hoveizeh with a turbojet and its higher fuel consumption go farther !?

It's not funny ?
They admitted to big problems with Soumar's engine... First about Soumar they said 2000km only after when they showed Hoveizeh they said it was actually 700km not 2000km.

Anyway, Hoveizeh was only tested to 1200km, and for sure Qods 1 has a shorter range than Hoveizeh, so still 1500km is not possible in my opinion.
 
Great post Soheil!

How likely is it that houties could smuggle these deep inside Saudi and then launch from shorter distance?
They’ve crossed the borders before when chasing fleeing Saudi forces...
 
They admitted to big problems with Soumar's engine... First about Soumar they said 2000km only after when they showed Hoveizeh they said it was actually 700km not 2000km.

Anyway, Hoveizeh was only tested to 1200km, and for sure Qods 1 has a shorter range than Hoveizeh, so still 1500km is not possible in my opinion.

Depends on the size of full tank and total weight !

Everything they said about soumar is a big lie for political reasons ... It's range is +2000 km and designed to carry nuclear warheads if needed in future !

Hoveizeh is a cheaper variant for conventional missions ...
 

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