(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — Russia has reportedly painted the “Shahed-136” kamikaze drones supplied by Iran with black color for night attacks on cities in Ukraine.
The act of painting these kamikaze drones in black is intended to further impede the visual detection efforts by Ukrainian military personnel during nighttime operations in the country’s airspace.
According to Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat, in addition to the black paint, Russia has made several enhancements to the kamikaze drones supplied by Iran to ensure their successful execution of missions.
These improvements include the use of composite materials such as carbon in the construction of the “Shahed” drones.
“Carbon has been identified as a material that absorbs radar signals, making it more challenging for our air defense radar systems to detect Shahed on radar, while the black color is meant to obscure the visual perception of our personnel,” he stated.
This makes it difficult for our armed forces to shoot down the Shahed drones.
However, Ihnat claims that Ukrainian military forces have successfully shot down 71 out of 75 Shahed kamikaze drones that attacked the capital city, Kiev, during the previous night.
Despite these challenges, Kiev asserts that the drone attacks by Russia were the “largest” since the armed conflict between the two neighboring countries began in February of the previous year.
It has been reported that Russia began using the Shahed kamikaze drones supplied by Iran in September of the previous year to target cities and infrastructure in Ukraine.
In addition to receiving thousands of Shahed kamikaze drones directly from Iran, Russia is also reported to have started manufacturing these drones at its own facility in the city of Yelabuga, Tatarstan, south of Moscow.
Iran is reported to have provided technical assistance to Russia to enable the construction of the Shahed kamikaze drone manufacturing facility in Yelabuga.
Russia has utilized Iranian kamikaze drones such as Shahed-131, Shahed-136, and Mohajer to target various objectives in Ukraine, including buildings, public infrastructure, power plants, oil storage facilities, and more.
U.S. officials have stated that the capabilities of various Iranian-made drones have significantly increased since 2014, starting with their use by Tehran-backed Houthi militants in attacks on oil and gas facilities owned by Saudi Aramco in Yemen.
This escalation continued with drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf.
Despite the low accuracy of Iranian-made kamikaze drones, they have successfully instilled “fear” in both the Ukrainian military and civilians from a psychological standpoint.
These Iranian-produced kamikaze drones, often referred to as “mopeds” or “scooters” due to their loud noise, have a range of 1,000 to 2,200 kilometers and are equipped with a 50kg explosive payload at the tip.
The Shahed-136, developed by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing (HESA), has an overall length of 3.5 meters, weighs 200kg, and is powered by a Chinese-made engine, enabling it to fly at speeds of up to 185km per hour. –DSA
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