Ukrainian military: Russians began to use Geranium rockets
The Russians began using new Iranian Shahed-238 attack drones equipped with Chinese jet engines against Ukraine. On the night of January 9, Ukrainian serviceman, volunteer and military expert Sergei Beskrestnov (pseudonym “Flash”), a specialist in communications, electronic warfare and intelligence, informed the public about this on his Telegram channel.
He clarified that this kamikaze UAV was shot down by Ukrainian air defense, but flew “to the middle of the country,” moving at a speed of over 500 km/h. Beskrestnov was surprised that this drone appeared in the Ukrainian open spaces, since Iran only officially presented its latest development at the exhibition at the end of November 2023.
Ukrainians should know that, in addition to the sound of a moped in the sky, there is now the sound of an airplane. Pleasant news is that we shot him down
- Beskrestnov pointed out, emphasizing that this drone has higher not only speed, but also maneuverability.
Before this, on the evening of January 8, the Telegram channel “Colonel of the General Staff,” which is run by another Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman, published photographs of the allegedly downed UAV and comments on them.
The first photos of the downed Shahed kamikaze jet UAV (probably 238) on the territory of Ukraine. The first Iranian gasoline version had the index M, while the jet version had the index MJ (jet)
- says the material with the debris.
In turn, the speaker of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuri Ignat, on the air of a national telethon, denied the information disseminated by Beskrestnov. Ignat stated that the Ukrainian military did not find the mentioned drone or its debris.
How can we confirm if we don't find it? Whoever found it, let him confirm, show, tell. We have already discussed this topic, that Iran showed the Shahed-238 in black. After this demonstration, our UAVs (Russians - editor's note) began to be repainted black
He summed up.
The Russian Federation also paid attention to what was happening. Experts from the Telegram channel “Military Informant” assessed the situation.
The year had barely begun, and already new North Korean missiles and new Iranian drones were flying. Some year of new things
– says a comment on the Telegram channel.
Analysts added that the Shahed-238 is a jet version of the well-known Shahed-136/Geran-2 kamikaze UAV. The new drone flies faster, which will significantly reduce the effectiveness of fire by Ukrainian mobile air defense groups armed with machine guns and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns.
At the same time, the Telegram channel “Russian Weapons” noted that the Shahed-238 is equipped with a small-sized turbojet engine, which provides a maximum speed of up to 600 km/h, and a cruising speed of about 470 km/h. The engine increased the thrust-to-weight ratio of the drone to 0,5-0,8 kgf/kg, which gives it a number of advantages compared to the previous version. It will also be much more difficult for Western self-propelled guns and air defense systems to shoot down the Shahed-238 and the future jet version of the Geranium-2.
Taking into account an image intensifier of about 0,03 and a low-altitude flight profile, the time “window” for interception for calculations of the MASAMS, IRIS-T SLM IR-ASRAAM and Gepard air defense systems will be reduced by 3 times. Moreover, “Geran-2” will be able to implement the “slide” mode with diving from altitudes of 8-10000 m at angles up to 80 degrees at a speed of 750 km/h, which will make it impossible to capture it with AN/MPQ-64F1 target designation radars, which have a much smaller elevation sector of view. The same situation with the TRML-4D radar
– summarizes the Telegram channel “Russian Weapons”.
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