These are the Iranian suicide drones that Russia launches over Ukraine

The concept of a kamikaze or suicide drone sounds ominous and of course alludes to a fearsome weapon that has been used by Russian forces in Ukraine in recent days, but in this war concert it is far from being a decisive actor: it is in the fund of guided projectiles, cheaper and more manageable than conventional missiles.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
13 October 2022 Thursday 22:30
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These are the Iranian suicide drones that Russia launches over Ukraine

The concept of a kamikaze or suicide drone sounds ominous and of course alludes to a fearsome weapon that has been used by Russian forces in Ukraine in recent days, but in this war concert it is far from being a decisive actor: it is in the fund of guided projectiles, cheaper and more manageable than conventional missiles. Low cost missiles, somehow.

Russia would have bought from Iran "hundreds" of these drones, according to Washington, called Shahed-136 and renamed Geran-2 by the Russians, and of which the Ukrainians say they have shot down quite a few. But there is more...

Last July it became known of the Russian interest in acquiring Iranian-made drones. The use that the Ukrainians made of the Baraktyar TB-2 drones supplied by Turkey seemed to convince Moscow of the need to use this type of flying weapons, which are not manufactured in Russia in sufficient quantity, according to experts consulted by the France agency. Press. So far there is evidence of the presence in Ukraine of the suicide bomber Shahed-136 and the Mohajer-6, although the Pentagon says it has detected the Shahed-129 and 191 by satellite at Russian bases. The last three models do not fall into the kamikaze category and yes in that of the more or less sophisticated.

The Shahed-136 has the peculiarity of being launched in waves, five at a time, from a simple launcher installed on a truck. With several launchers acting at the same time, a "swarm" is generated capable of saturating anti-aircraft defenses. According to this system, the drones are not piloted from a control center but guided to their targets by GPS coordinates. That is why they must be used against fixed targets, not moving ones; flying low and fast, they will not alter their trajectory. With the shape of a delta wing, simple, robust and cheap, the characteristics of the explosive charge that is housed in its nose have not been reported. Radar can detect them and portable anti-aircraft rockets can shoot them down, but blocking their GPS navigation is most effective. In this regard, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced yesterday that the Alliance will send Ukraine "hundreds" of these inhibitors.

Another Iranian device believed to be active in Ukraine, the Mohajer-6, is a replica of the Turkish TB-2, which is equipped with laser-guided rockets and was widely used by Azerbaijan against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh war in the 2020; it has also given good results to the Ukrainians. The Mohajer-6 has a payload (missiles, bombs...) of up to one hundred kilos. The Shahed-129 and 191, with similar capabilities, copy the American Predator and Sentinel models.

According to the French expert Pierre Grasser, quoted by the AFP agency, the fact that Russia has opted for Iranian drones reveals a weakness in its arms industry, to which would be added the problem of acquiring components due to Western sanctions. This would prevent the factories from working according to the needs of the war.

Iran's advanced missile-equipped remotely piloted drones, such as the Shahed-129, which cost $7.5 million each, are worth considering as targeting the Ukrainians' modern Himars batteries, while The function of the Shahed-136 kamikazes, which reportedly cost only about $20,000 each, is to terrorize and kill civilians.