Russia has been using Iranian Shahed-136 drones against Ukraine since the second half of 2022. These drones are not a minor annoyance – they are a huge threat and a very powerful weapon.
Russia is now making its own Shahed-136 version called the Geran-2 and Ukraine is still learning new ways to defeat them. Recently, as shared by the National Police of Ukraine, one such drone was captured whole – a rare achievement by the defenders of Ukraine.
Most of the Shahed-136/Geran-2 drones launched towards Ukraine are successfully destroyed before they have an opportunity to reach their targets. Various missiles (mostly, MANPADS) and anti-aircraft machine guns are used for that.
When a Shahed-136 drone is hit in the sky, it usually explodes or crashes down and, usually, breaks into many pieces. Ukraine has gathered many wreckages like that and has gained some important knowledge from their analysis, but now they have captured a whole unexploded and pretty much intact Shahed-136.
Just take a look at this thing:
Shahed-136 drone downed on January 26, 2024. Image credit: National Police of Ukraine via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
You might have seen the videos of Shahed attacks in Ukraine and maybe even saw the wreckage of these drones. But it is hard to imagine their size without seeing it in relation with other things or people.
The Shahed-136 is a 200 kg drone with a warhead of 50 kg. It is 3.5 metres long and has a wingspan of 2.5 metres. It is so big, it would not fit in most cargo vans, unless it was put at an angle (normally it is just too wide). And yet this thing is said to have a range of about 2,500 km.
It is unclear whether this particular drone was disposed of or taken apart for analysis. However, there is an interesting detail about its downing – some sources have reported that it was defeated using electronic warfare systems. In other words, it was attacked by some sort of jammers that made the drone lost or otherwise confused enough to come down so gently in an empty field.
People’s Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Fedienko confirmed that Ukraine now has the electronic warfare capabilities needed to take down Shahed-136 drones. Of course, shooting them down is still the primary mode of defence, but falling debris can still be dangerous. If it is possible to bring them down gently, it needs to be done.
This image of Ukrainian sappers by the Shahed-136 drone illustrates the real size of this weapon. Image credit: National Police of Ukraine via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
The most important advantage of the Shahed-136 drone was always its price. It is a cheap drone, estimated to cost from 10 to 50 thousand dollars. This does mean that some corners had to be cut and that might open the doors for taking them down using electronic warfare tools. For example, analysis of the debris showed that these drones used simple cell phone 4G modems and SIM cards for communication.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: Wikipedia, MAKS 23 Twitter