More interesting information has come to light about the unusual Shahed-136 drones that have been used to attack Ukraine in recent weeks.
Technically, they are very similar to those that Russia started using more than a year ago. Well, except that they are now allegedly manufactured in Russia, which calls them Geran-2, instead of Iran, which developed them. They have more Russian components. However, there has been one cosmetic change recently.
Shahed drones are still causing a lot of damage in Ukraine, even though most of them are shot down. Image credit: State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Russian forces have recently started attacking Ukraine with black Shahed-136 drones. However, as the spokesman of the Air Force of Ukraine Yuriy Ihnat pointed out, most drones are still white-grey, and black Shaheds are still rare.
Shahed-136 are suicide drones and their strength is in numbers. They are not very fast or manoeuvrable. Air defense systems and even individual soldiers notice them quite easily – more than one was shot down by a simple automatic rifle.
However, Iran designed the Shahed-136 to be a very cheap drone that could overwhelm the enemy’s air defense capabilities. Their light colour probably has something to do with the fact that Shahed-136 simply has to be as cheap as possible. Also, maybe it is less noticeable against the background of lighter-coloured clouds.
However, during the massive drone attack in Kyiv on November 20, one black Shahed-136 drone was detected and shot down. It surprised the defenders of Ukraine, and to this day black Shahed drones are a rarity in the Ukrainian sky.
😐 Russians used black-painted Shaheds to strike Kyiv for the first time.
This makes them difficult to detect at the night. pic.twitter.com/V4EnP7F9oo
— MAKS 23 👀🇺🇦 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) November 25, 2023
“It’s been painted or got a new composite material like carbon fibre, which can also be black,” Ihnat said. At first, the Ukrainians thought that the black drones were from a new batch and were leaving the factory in this new camo paintjob.
However, it turned out that at least some of the drones became black in a much less sophisticated way – they were spray-painted on the field. Obviously, this is how the Russians are trying to make the Shahed drones more difficult to detect in the night sky, but that doesn’t work.
“As far as I know, there was only one such Shahed at the time, which may have been launched as an experiment to see how our air defenses would react to it. But it too was destroyed, as were those that arrived in later days. Now it is clear that the occupiers have started to paint them with spray paint,” Ihnat added.
Got bitten 🤔🤣 pic.twitter.com/pWh4uU3350
— Stigahund (@stigahund) December 1, 2023
According to him, the Russians are constantly updating the Shahed kamikaze drones. Although their fundamental design remains the same, some components are experimented with. For example, different navigation systems, hull color, and even warheads are being tested. A Shahed-136 drone with a thermobaric 40 kg warhead was recently shot down in Ukraine.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: Censor.net