Russian drone upgrades challenge Ukrainian air defences
The Russian Federation's army is modernizing its Shahed drones, reports the Ukrainian agency Unian, citing information from the Institute for the Study of War. Although this means the aggressor can fly them higher and faster, the defenders are not leaving the Russians' improvements unanswered and are enhancing their tactics to neutralize the threat.
The Institute for the Study of War notes that the Russians are updating their Shahed drones. Earlier versions were very slow, difficult to manoeuvre, and could only fly at low altitudes.
Improving their drones: Shaheds fly higher and faster
With these changes, the Russian Federation has eliminated the biggest drawbacks of the Iranian designs. The Shahed-136s fly at higher cruising speeds and ascend to greater altitudes. This theoretically means that shooting down the threat will be much more difficult for Ukrainians.
In reality, however, Kyiv responded swiftly to Moscow, as Ukrainian fire teams adapted to the new threat and developed appropriate tactics to handle the improved Shaheds. Experts associated with the military sector point out that the Ukrainian armed forces should prepare for the fact that the Russians will produce more drones and simultaneously strive to make them harder to shoot down.
Ukrainians are developing tactics to counteract the threat posed by Shaheds, reports Unian. The tactics mainly involve an "innovative detection system" based on microphones deployed throughout the country. The central system subsequently analyses microphone data, tracks each drone's path, and determines its probable target.
Shahed-136 drones
In Russia, the Shahed-136 drones are known as Geran-2. The currently produced Shaheds used by Russian forces are powered by a copy of the German Limbach L550E engine, known as the Mado MD550. This engine produces 50 horsepower, enabling the drone to reach a speed of about 115 mph. According to some sources, the Shahed can cover even 1,240 miles.
The Geran-2 is approximately 11.5 feet long, and its wingspan reaches 8.2 feet. The entire structure weighs 440 pounds, of which the warhead constitutes around 88 pounds. In some versions of the Shaheds, the Russians install Kometa receivers, which aim to mitigate the effects of disruptions generated by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.
