Iranian large one-way attack drone with AI guidance and explosives payload. Designed for saturation attacks against defended targets.
Arash-2 is significantly larger than Shahed-136, with a payload estimated at 250 kilograms of high explosives, designed to defeat hardened structures that smaller munitions cannot penetrate. The Houthi movement's operational use of Arash-2 against Saudi oil infrastructure demonstrated Iran's ability to provide proxy forces with highly capable autonomous strike weapons at standoff range. Its AI guidance system is believed to incorporate GPS with terrain-following capability similar to the Shahed-136 but with improved accuracy for point targets.
Attacks on Israeli-linked shipping 2022–2024; used by Houthi forces against Saudi Arabia
IRGC Aerospace is under heavy US and international sanctions. Counter-Arash-2 systems procurement benefits Raytheon (RTX) through its Patriot and NASAMS programs and Israeli defense companies through Rafael and IAI.