Iranian UAVs are attacking cities. How dangerous they are

The Russian occupiers began using Shahed-136 loitering shells against the rear cities of Ukraine.

The Iranian combat drones, which were received by the Russian invaders at the end of the summer, in recent days began mass attacks on the rear cities in Ukraine, especially Odessa and Dnipro. Most of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces, but others hit the target. Previously, experts doubted the effectiveness of Iran’s drones. Correspondent.net telling the details.

Only the southern region of Ukraine is under threat

Russian invaders have started using Iranian drones more often, Natalia Gumenyuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces, said on television on September 27.

“The tactical and technical characteristics allow the drones to move away from the base by about 2.5 thousand kilometers. This means that only the southern regions of Ukraine, where they can be sent from the temporarily occupied territory, are under threat,” Gumenyuk said.

According to him, the weapon is relatively new, experts in Ukraine study all its characteristics both when it hits the target and when the drones are shot down by the military.

The appearance of Iranian drones in Ukraine was first known on September 13, when reports appeared on the Internet that near Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down an unusual UAV with the inscription Geran-2. From the wreckage, it became clear that it was an Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone.

Iranian striker UAVs were spotted in the Kupyansk region. Probably used by Russian forces. pic.twitter.com/xBVtuifvVS

— Maxim (@kms_d4k) September 13, 2022

Since Sunday, these drones, classified as loitering projectiles, have been attacking Odessa daily in swarms. Blows fell on the port, ammunition depot and military headquarters. The attack on September 27 was completely repulsed by the air defense forces.

“It is a matter of time to make air defense algorithms for countering the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone. As before against Russian missiles, its destruction efficiency is literally growing in front of our eyes,” Alexander Kovalenko, a military-political observer of the Information Resistance group, commented on his Telegram blog.

According to the expert, now we can say that the Shahed-136 has a maximum effective range of 150-170 kilometers, “and not two thousand kilometers, as indicated in open sources and how they were afraid.”

Odessa, PPO defeats Iranian drones.

ps If I wrote that yakby, I’d be trapped in alcohol. pic.twitter.com/8xBCtYNIfK

— Promise Portal (@ua_industrial) September 26, 2022

What are the advantages of Iranian drones

Iran sent the first batch of unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia, according to US media, in mid-August. The day before, when the White House announced Tehran’s plans to transfer its drones to the Russian military, Iranian authorities assured Ukraine that they had no such intentions and were in favor of achieving peace through diplomacy.

The Washington Post, citing American intelligence, wrote that the Russian army received two types of Iranian UAVs: Mohajer and Shahed. These drones are considered capable of both reconnaissance and strike missions. Judging by the photos of the downed drones, the Russian invaders received Mohajer and Shahed.

The kamikaze drone is a special type of aircraft. Officially, they are called loitering ammunition. It is a drone that can stay in the air for a long time, selects a target, and then attacks it like a cruise missile, writes BBC News.

On the one hand, in this way it really looks like a cruise missile, which, in essence, is also an unmanned aerial vehicle. Their difference is that the missile usually flies towards the target along a predetermined and more or less predictable trajectory, making maneuvers taking into account the terrain, while the drone can fly like an airplane, changes course, speed and spatial position actively and unpredictably. .

In addition, cruise missiles are usually equipped with a powerful turbojet engine, fly at high speeds and have a powerful warhead. Kamikaze drones are typically smaller, often propeller-powered, and controlled by an external source.

Loitering munitions have the advantage of flying at low altitude, making them difficult to track with radars. At the same time, it can fly hundreds of kilometers, that is, attack in operational depth. They usually fly in groups of several units to ensure they can overcome anti-aircraft fire.

Although such drones have been around since the late 1980s, they have been actively developed in recent years. The impetus was the development of satellite navigation and communication systems, which made it possible to improve the accuracy of pointing drones.

Loitering ammunition can be built by a not very technologically advanced country. Such drones can be relatively cheap, although this affects their combat characteristics.

This proves that Iran, which has been under strict US economic sanctions for decades. Iranian industry produces a fairly wide range of drones. Those passed on by the Iranians to Russia are among the newest and most effective of them. Mohajer and Shahed are replicas of Western drones that ended up in Tehran’s hands.

What are the disadvantages of Iranian kamikaze drones

Sanctions have had a significant impact on the quality of parts for Iran’s drones. Last week, the Office of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a technical description of the Shahed-136.

It turns out that the Iranian engineers used components that can be freely ordered on online trading platforms, and the software was taken from the Internet, it was intended for modellers, such as Shahed-136 aileron servos.

However, they have no targeting system. They are controlled by an external pilot, who may be in a motorized vehicle, or by another drone.

The disadvantages of these drones are also low speed with relatively large dimensions. In addition, the device makes a loud buzzing sound, which is clearly heard on the ground, where the Ukrainians call it a flying moped.

In theory, such a drone could be shot down with a light machine gun. Light portable anti-aircraft missile systems or artillery anti-aircraft systems can be effective.

According to the expert Taras Chmut, even the old Soviet ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun can shoot the Shahed-136, but “for this it is necessary that it is, it must have personnel, ammunition, and the gunner must look to the sky and be ready to shoot.” In general, this applies to any air defense system – the main thing is to find a target and aim an anti-aircraft system at it.

Attention! The video contains profanity

Electronic warfare systems are more effective means of combating UAVs. According to Israeli media, an unnamed Israeli defense company is selling anti-drone systems to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through Poland.

But the sanctions affect not only the quality of parts, but also the possibilities of serial production of drones. Iran is known to have produced dozens of its drones over the years. He cannot churn out hundreds of them or, moreover, thousands in a few months or even a year.

In addition, Iran has fronts in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, as well as a military confrontation with Israel that could develop into a full-scale war, an armed Azerbaijan on its northern border, and groups of US in the Middle East.

With such facts, providing Russia with “effective” drones is illogical. Therefore, the number of Shahed-136 is likely to be small.

“Iran could not transfer a huge batch of kamikaze UAVs to Russia. There is no question about any thousands of Shahed-136! But it is not very important. By increasing the effectiveness of their elimination, we leveled the no this deal is worth it. However, one should not underestimate the data clunkers with wings and, watching how the air defense works more and better, ignore the air raid signals,” Kovalenko insisted.

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