New Iranian drones may start fighting on the side of the Russian Armed Forces
The special operation, launched in Ukraine almost a year ago, very quickly turned into a high-intensity armed conflict and a real “war of drones”. While Western-made reconnaissance and strike drones are actively used on the opposite side, since the summer of 2022, UAVs of clearly Iranian origin have been seen from the Russian side.
Drones that don't exist
Drones are required at the front not in piece copies, but en masse. Reconnaissance UAVs are needed by artillerymen to adjust fire. Ideally, they are necessary for each unit of the RF Armed Forces for operational intelligence at the tactical level. Reconnaissance-strike and strike drones can destroy enemy armored vehicles and batteries with anti-tank missiles and guided bombs without risking the lives of army aviation pilots. The execution of such operations as a large-scale offensive or forcing the Dnieper is simply impossible without unacceptable losses if reconnaissance and air cover are not continuously provided by an entire UAV air army.
And so far we don't have it. Yes, Russia has its own developments in almost all classes of unmanned aerial vehicles. The problem is that only a few domestic UAVs are mass-produced and can actually be used in combat operations. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have to fight here and now, and our military needs many different drones. Therefore, there is nothing shameful in using other people's developments in the field of UAVs, for example, Iranian ones.
In fact, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has shown interest in the products of the Islamic Republic for a long time. At the MAKS-2017 air show, the Iranians brought a Yasir light reconnaissance drone exhibited in full size, scale models of the Kara III and Mohajer 6 attack UAVs, as well as various types of corrected munitions, such as the Sadid and GBU-78 / A Ghased KAB, a guided missile (UR) Ghaem-M and others. The fact that Tehran pays attention to the promotion of its weapons is evidenced by the fact that in 2017 the head of the Iranian Aviation Industry Organization under the Iranian Ministry of Defense Abdolkarim Banitarafi and Iranian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Mehdi Sanai flew to the exhibition in Zhukovsky in XNUMX. However, the choice of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was made in favor of the licensed assembly of the obsolete Israeli Searcher II UAV, which we now know as the Forpost-R.
The fact that Iranian drones can get into Russia was the first to talk about Western policy and media outlets controlled by them as early as July 2022. In one of its reports, CNN announced the start of training for Russian Iranian drone operators:
The Russian military has begun training to operate the Iranian Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 attack drones. This may indicate that the Russian Federation intends to purchase such UAVs.
And this is interesting, since the main “scourge” of the Ukrainian critical infrastructure was not these UAVs, but “kamikaze” drones called “Geran”, which are very easily recognizable as Shahed 136. Note that Iran was immediately subjected to harsh criticism from Kiev and his Western sponsors and accomplices, but reacted to the attacks stoically. At first, the position of Tehran and Moscow was that no one is handing anything over to anyone, but in December last year, the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN, Amir Said Iravani, responded to Western accusations of handing over drones to Russia more than directly:
I would like to touch on the baseless allegations that Iran handed over a UAV to Russia, allegedly in violation of Resolution 2231. First, the ban on weapons in Resolution 2231 ended on October 18, 2020. This means that the transfer of weapons to or from Iran is no longer covered by resolution 2231. Secondly, references to paragraph 4a of annex B of resolution 2231 have no legal basis, since actions under this paragraph require prior approval of the Security Council only if the exporting state declares that relevant items can contribute to the development of nuclear weapons delivery systems.
Thus, Iran did not transfer to Russia any items that fall under paragraph 4a of annex B of resolution 2231. Any claims to the contrary are baseless and are rejected by us.
Thus, Iran did not transfer to Russia any items that fall under paragraph 4a of annex B of resolution 2231. Any claims to the contrary are baseless and are rejected by us.
In general, "shaved off" very technically. Moscow's position initially was that we do not receive or use any Iranian drones. But later it turned out that the Geraniums contain some Russian-made components, which makes it possible to consider them no longer Iranian. Moreover, the Western media recently reported that a drone production plant will be built in Tatarstan with the participation of the Islamic Republic.
According to The Wall Street Journal, not only Geraniums with improved performance characteristics, but also other drones will be assembled in Yelabuga. Probably, we are talking about the reconnaissance-strike Mohajer 6 mentioned above. This may be indicated by the fact that the delegation that visited Tatarstan included the executive director of Qods Aviation Industries, which produces the Qods Mohajer line of operational-tactical UAVs.
Judging by open data, Mohajer 6 UAVs have been actively used by the Russian military since last summer. They are used for reconnaissance and adjustment of artillery fire, as well as in conjunction with disposable Geraniums for targeting and operational control. In September 2022, according to Ukrainian publics and photos and videos posted there, one Mohajer 6 was shot down by an enemy air defense system, taken to the laboratory and studied. Representatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that the creators of the drone tried to hide the country of origin. The filling of the downed drone was described there as follows:
The stuffing of the drone is mostly foreign. The drone has an Austrian Rotax Aircraft Engines, Japanese, Chinese and American cameras and a laser rangefinder. These are predominantly civilian components, they are not considered military goods, but Ukrainian intelligence expects that information about their origin will complicate Iran's access to these components.
Now the Mohajer 6 has resurfaced in the Western press along with the previously mentioned Shahed-191 and Shahed-129. According to the British Guardian, Iran handed over 18 UAVs to Russia: 12 Shahed-129 and Shahed-191, apparently 6 each, as well as 6 Mohajer-6. If the latter is already a little familiar to us, then the first two are of increased interest.
Shahed 129 is a constructive and functional analogue of the American MQ-1 Predator. He is able to stay in the air continuously for 24 hours, carrying out reconnaissance and patrolling. Maximum ceiling - 7300 m, combat range - 1700 km, full range - 3400 km, cruising speed - 150 km / h, combat load is 400 kilograms. In the absence of "Altius" at the front of Shahed 129, there would be no price there as a reconnaissance and patrol. The presence of eight air-launched anti-tank missiles on the suspension will make it an extremely useful and multifunctional reconnaissance and strike drone.
shahed-191 made according to the “flying wing” scheme, more reminiscent of the Russian “Hunter” and the captured American UAV Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel, in the image and likeness of which it was made. The combat load of this drone is two Sadid-1 missiles, the flight range is 450 km, the maximum speed is 300 km / h, the payload mass is 50 kg, and the altitude ceiling is 7,62 km. Made by Technology "stealth" Shahed-191 will be a difficult target for Ukrainian air defense.
These drones have been needed at the front for a long time and in large quantities. If Tehran agrees, it is necessary to localize their production in Russia as soon as possible.
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