All about the new weaponized drones that Iran has supplied to Russia
Iran has sent Russia new and more sophisticated drones for use in the war on Ukraine. Smuggling takes place on the Caspian Sea. Here are details and capabilities of the models
Iran has smuggled new long-range armed drones into Russia , which uses them in its war on Ukraine, using boats and aircraft from the state-owned airline.
THE VISIT OF RUSSIAN OFFICIALS TO TEHRAN
The Guardian , based on information received from Iranian sources, writes that in November the Russian navy obtained from Iran at least eighteen of the drones selected during the visit to Tehran, in the same month, of Kremlin officials and technicians.
On that occasion, the Russian delegation selected six Mohajer-6 drones (which have a range of about 200 kilometers and can carry two missiles under each wing) and twelve Shahed 191 and Shahed 129 model drones (both equipped with air-to-ground attack).
All these types of aircraft are designed to drop bombs and return to base intact: the Shahed 131 and 136, however, were used by Russian forces to crash them into various targets in Ukraine.
THE US WARNING
Already last August, the United States had said that Iran was showing its Shahed 191 and 129 drones to Russia, and that it would probably supply them within a short time. Mohajer-6 drones, on the other hand, have been spotted in Ukraine since September.
WHY RUSSIA NEEDS ADVANCED DRONES
The Guardian explains that Moscow needs advanced drones, roughly comparable in capabilities to Turkey's Bayraktar TB2, because Ukraine has learned to counter the small kamikaze drones, which have to fly low before diving on target.
In January, Ukrainian forces said they had destroyed all 45 drones used by Russia in an attack earlier this year; a few months earlier, an attack via Shahed 136 had killed five people in Kiev, exploding on a house near the railway station.
SMUGGLING ON THE CASPIAN SEA
The newspaper's sources said that most of the Iranian drones supplied to Russia are secretly taken from a base on the coast of the Caspian Sea, moved by sea and finally transferred to a Russian navy vessel. These are not particularly complicated operations, because both countries overlook the Caspian Sea, an inland sea.
– Read also:All the billion-dollar plans of Russia and Iran on trade
In other cases, the drones are shipped by air via Iran's state-owned airline.
In addition to the drones, Tehran has also sent its technicians to Moscow to assist in the integration of aircraft into the Russian forces. According to Guardian sources, Iran has sent fifty-four officials in all, three for each drone.
THE ISFAHAN PLANT
The drones are produced in a military plant in the Iranian city of Isfahan, which was hit by a drone, probably from Israel, on 28 January. The attack seriously damaged the facility, where Iran makes some of its most sophisticated weaponry, including precision-guided missiles and advanced drones.
THE FEATURES OF THE NEW DRONES SUPPLIED BY IRAN TO RUSSIA
The Mohajer-6 drones obtained by Russia are electric, can stay in the air for six hours and are capable of carrying 40-kilo bombs. They also contain high-precision pointing systems.
The Shahed 129s can carry heavier ordnance, up to 60 kilos, but stay in the air for less time, around four hours. The Shahed 191s are more performing: five hours of flight for 70 kilos of transport. Both models have a modified engine compared to the German-made original.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/iran-droni-contrabbando-russia/ on Mon, 13 Feb 2023 11:24:04 +0000.