TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state TV on Wednesday broadcast footage of an aircraft it says is a replica of a U.S. stealth drone captured in 2011. 
 
 The images, showing a black aircraft flying over mountainous terrain and arid lands before landing at an unnamed air base, were the first alleged proof that the Iranian-made version of the unmanned plane has actually been flown. 
 
 Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of the elite Revolutionary Guard, said Iran will build at least two or three such drones before the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which falls on March 20, and will mass produce it next year. 
 
 He claimed that Iran has even improved the efficiency of the drone by modifying its design. 
 
 "The Iranian version's weight has remarkably become less, it consumes less fuel, its speed has been increased and the duration that it can fly has improved a lot because of its enhanced body. The Americans had used metal in building the body but we did not use metal at all. It helps to reduce its detectability by radars," Hajizadeh said on state TV. 
 
 Iran has said it managed to decode all of the data and reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from neighboring Afghanistan, he added. 
 
 Hajizadeh also taunted the U.S., saying: "The mini-stroke Americans suffered will be complete by watching this footage." 
 
 Iran says it has captured several American drones in recent years, including a less sophisticated Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone which entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf. Tehran says it is also copying the ScanEagle and plans to put its version into service. ||||| Iranian press released footage on Wednesday purportedly depicting a drone reverse-engineered by the Islamic State from an American prototype that Iran captured down about three years ago. 
 
 
 
 Iran's official Press TV published the recently released recording on its website that reportedly showed the maiden voyage of a US RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle. 
 
 Relevant to your professional network? Please share on Linkedin 
 
 In December 2011, Iran said it had captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran that had been reported lost by US forces in neighboring Afghanistan.The Iranian copy of the aircraft allegedly made a successful first flight, Press TV reported.On Monday, Tehran claimed that its version of the drone was fully operational.In May, Iran unveiled a copy of the RQ-170 drone, an aircraft manufactured by US defense technology company Lockheed Martin.The United States has said the security system meant Iran was unlikely to get valuable information from the drone.Reuters contributed to this report. ||||| Loading ... 
 
 The footage of the Iranian version of a US drone which was brought down some three years ago and later reverse-engineered by Iranian experts has been released. 
 
 Iran recently put into operation a final version of the sophisticated US RQ-170 stealth aircraft, which was downed with minimal damage by the Iranian Armed Forces’ electronic warfare unit in December, 2011, while flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) from the Afghan border. 
 
 The domestically produced version of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made a successful maiden flight a few days ago the footage of which has just been released. 
 
 At the time when the American drone was captured, US military officials tried to play the incident down, saying Iran did not have the technology to decipher the data stored on the UAV. However, the aircraft was successfully reverse-engineered by IRGC experts in about two years. 
 
 In May, the Islamic Republic unveiled a copy of the American UAV originally designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company. 
 
 The drone is one of the United States’ most advanced spy aircraft and its loss is considered a major embarrassment for Washington. 
 
 In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems. 
 
 NN/HRB
– Back in 2011, Iran captured a US stealth drone that had moved into its airspace from Afghanistan. The country says it's made a copy of the drone, and new footage allegedly shows it in flight for the first time, the AP reports. The video, shown on state TV, reveals a black aircraft soaring over a mountainous area. Perhaps unsurprisingly, an Iranian general says the country's version of the RQ-170 Sentinel is even better than the American one. Its "weight has remarkably become less, it consumes less fuel, its speed has been increased, and the duration that it can fly has improved a lot because of its enhanced body," the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division notes. Unlike the US version, the Iranian one contains no metal, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh says: "It helps to reduce its detectability by radars." Tehran plans to make several of the drones this year, which in Iran ends March 20; next year, it aims to mass-produce them, the general says. The flight occurred a few days ago, per Iran's PressTV, which has the clip, the Jerusalem Post reports. "The mini-stroke Americans suffered will be complete by watching this footage," Hajizadeh notes.