Shahed-136 drones unlikely to help Russia achieve its goals in Ukraine - British intelligence

The Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones are unlikely to be satisfactorily fulfilling the function which Russia aspired to use them for.

That’s according to the latest update on the Russia-Ukrainian war, released by the British Defense Ministry on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

As noted in the report, Russia has deployed Iranian-manufactured unscrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) since at least August 2022, including the one-way attack Shahed-136 variant. Russia included Shahed variants among the extensive wave of strikes it conducted on October 10.

Previously, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russia had launched a total of 86 Shahed-136s and claimed that 60 percent had been destroyed in the air.

These UAVs are slow and fly at low altitudes making lone aircraft easy to target using conventional air defenses. There is a realistic possibility that Russia has achieved some success by attacking with several UAVs at the same time, according to the report.

“Despite a reported range of 2,500 km, the Shahed-136 only has a small explosive payload. It is unlikely to be satisfactorily fulfilling the deep strike function which Russia probably aspired to use it for,” the update reads.

The British defense analysts believe that, while Russian tactical combat jets still achieving limited effect over Ukrainian territory, “the lack of a reliable, sustainable, and accurate operational-level strike capability is likely one of Russia’s most significant capability gaps in Ukraine.”

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has praised the work of Ukrainian air defense units which he sees as effective in downing Shaheed-136s using Polish technology.