Iraqi Militias Unveil SAD Aircraft Carrier

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On November 19, 2024, Saraya Awliya al-Dam (SAD) claimed an attack on Eilat, Israel, and showed (for the first time) a Shahed-101 X-tail drone being launched in the afternoon (based on sun position) from a fifteen-foot motor boat on an unidentified large body of water.

The launch appeared to send the drone in a westward direction. The body of water is quite large, judging by imagery that includes a length of water horizon with no shore visible (and some mountains). The only inland bodies of water in Iraq that fit this profile are lakes like Tharthar or Hamrin. The imagery could have been taken outside Iraq, perhaps in partnership with Houthi forces on the Red Sea.

The launch cell used a quadcopter (Figure 2) to take overhead images and a recorder in the boat to video the launch from behind. The launch team were exposed to strong exhaust smoke and heat but the boat seems to avoid major damage.

Effort was taken to blur out serial numbers on the wings of the Shahed-101. The configuration was a quad-puck GPS mounted behind the wing and towards the engine. Both obscured serials and the black, rear-mounted quad-GPS are familiar features of other SAD claims.

SAD has tried to provide the most interesting and diverse video footage of launches. While the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) video format has become very stale recently, SAD has shown its launch groups undertaking a variety of movements and attired in different patterns of uniform, sometimes including body armor and tactical helmets. The November 19, 2024 claim is the 13^th SAD-claimed attack in November. Eight of these came on November 4 alone, which may have been a set of four claims duplicated by accident or intentionally.

There is strong reason to doubt that SAD launch videos are shot exactly on the actual dates when claims are made: it is probable that the videos are made slightly earlier. In this case, extrapolating from available data, the 'martyrdom photo' of Mohammed Afif (the Lebanese Hezbollah spokesman killed on November 17, 2024) gives an earliest date for the video, but more likely the claim video was probably made on the afternoon of November 18, posted with a November 19 claim date on the launch video. In theory, the drone would make an eight-hour journey throughout the night of November 18-19 and might be claimed as a November 19 attack.