Everything you need to know about Iranian drones: Serhii Zgurets' column

Today, the Russian Federation used attack drones in waves to strike our cities, in particular Kyiv. 28 Iranian UAVs flew to the capital, 23 of which were shot down. According to intelligence, Russia ordered 2,400 Shahed-136 drones from Iran. They are not yet in such quantities, and what is there is effectively being destroyed by Ukraine's Armed Forces. Iran stubbornly refuses to admit that it is selling these weapons to Russia.

Today, the command of the Air Force announced that since the evening of October 16, 37 kamikaze drones have been destroyed, and 43 drones have been launched. In fact, the destruction rate is very high. Aviation and air defense systems were used for this. Defense Minister Reznikov said that it is necessary to integrate the best minds to find ways to fight against these drones.

Iranian drones: how they are being destroyed

Shahed-136 is neither a wunderwaffe nor a superweapon. This is a mass cheap weapon and its main danger is that the Russian Federation can establish conditionally licensed production and build them in unlimited quantities. All the components used there are actually civilian.

To counter drones, portable anti-aircraft missile systems are used, which are insufficient in the army. Now a very large number of hits are small arms, but it's more random. The number of bullets that need to be fired to hit such a UAV is about 800. Aviation is also used effectively, but due to the fact that there are not so many of them, this is a certain problem.

If we are talking about the destruction of dozens of kamikaze drones per day, then first of all, these are surface-to-air missiles. An extremely important aspect - such missiles become few with each shot, especially when we are talking about Soviet systems of the type Osa or Buk.

The second aspect is MANPADS (Man-portable air-defense systems -Ed). They can be effective, but the question is the organization of sufficient numbers and fighters. The tactic of using such drones as Shahed-136 consists of a simultaneous mass launch. One fighter with one MANPADS can shoot down only one drone. If 30 units fly, you need to have a powerful arsenal. Anti-aircraft guns can also be shot down.

The drone should be hit by small arms far away from the cities because they are the targets. It will still fall in the area of ​​residential buildings.  Next - promising means of defeat, what is currently being developed - laser, microwave complexes. These are only experimental samples.

Radar combat against Shahed-136

Regarding communication - jam with the help of EW (Electronic warfare -Ed), there is no feedback from the drone. All you can do is to suppress the satellite navigation, and it will switch to autopilot. For understanding, a primitive guidance system works there and it has an error of 5%. If it is jammed the entire flight from Belarus to Kyiv, the error will be 5%. Given the size the diameter of Kyiv at 24 km, this does not give any chance for a miss. EW is a very effective system against civilian drones. Military drones are essentially immune to EW.  Shahed-136 has a developed satellite navigation system - its suppression by EW is unlikely or ineffective at long distances.

Our military says that it is not possible to suppress Shahed with EW. The system that counters EW tools is the same for both Shahed and Orlan. Which suggests the existence of contacts between the Iranians and the Russians, who used similar circuit-technical solutions to cover their drones and the elemental base is similar. Today the military told me that the year 2022 is written on the license plate of the downed Shahed. This board was bought in Taiwan and I was told how the sanctions work. Sanctions do not work because these are civilian components used in both developments. Which indicates a certain correlation between the actions of the two countries.

How to better detect and destroy drones

Complexes of detection and destruction should be massive and very cheap. These are sound, radar detection methods. Very effective - the "єППО" application. There are many smartphones and people who can provide information too. For Shahed, this is a very effective solution. For destruction, neither small arms nor MANPADS are very developed. Several teams are currently working on interceptor drones. It is much cheaper than MANPADS.

We counter such drones, which are not classic kamikaze drones, where the operator sits at the remote control and directs it to the target.  Coordinates have been entered into this drone and it flies along the route. There, you can jam only satellite navigation, and this must be done at long distances. The most effective action is kinetic physical destruction, not silencing of his coordinate channels.

Each development should be multi-functional and not only work against Shahed drones. Interceptor drones are the most cost-effective means. Its cost will be many times less than one missile for MANPADS Stinger and it is a multifunctional tool, because it will allow the military to intercept not only Shahed-136, but also Orlan-10, which causes quite a lot of problems on the frontline. Plus, there is less washing out of the missiles that are available.

What is known about the new drone that Iran can transfer to the Russian Federation?

We are talking about a UAV, very similar in principle to Shahed-136. The Iranians say that it has a jet engine, in the available photos it is an ordinary one with a piston propeller. They claim that it can target radar stations.  Theoretically, it is really possible. But it is necessary to understand that there is a probability that there is ordinary guidance by coordinates. It has a larger warhead than Shahed-136. It is about 90 kg. It is much more powerful and bigger. Regarding the range - they claim 1700 km.