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Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
Russia's rumored jet-powered versions of the Iranian Shahed are appearing in Ukraine's air defense reports
More signs are emerging that Russia is launching a new exploding drone said to fly much faster than its current Shaheds. Ukraine's Air Force Command reported on Wednesday that it had encountered jet-powered attack drones while defending its airspace the night before. "A notable feature of the night attack was the use of up to eight jet-powered UAVs in the northern direction," it wrote in a regular update. The announcement marks one of the first official reports of Ukraine's forces encountering the new loitering munition in combat. In total, the Air Force Command counted 78 Shahed attack drones launched on Tuesday night. The statement added that 51 drones were shot down or disabled by electronic warfare, interceptor drones, anti-air missiles, and mobile fire groups, which typically use truck-mounted machine guns. The Ukrainian air force did not specify if any jet-propelled drones were shot down. "There were 27 drone impacts recorded at 7 locations, and falling debris from downed drones at 2 locations," Air Force Command wrote. On Thursday, a Ukrainian Telegram channel that monitors the flight paths of Russian drones also wrote that it recorded launches of jet-propelled drones. "On the map we've drawn for you, you can see the movement of cruise missiles, jet-powered Shaheds, and regular strike/decoy UAVs," it wrote. While not an official government channel, it's widely followed in Ukraine for city-specific alerts on incoming drones. A major problem for Ukraine's air defenses Russian jet-propelled drones are believed to be closely modeled after Iran's Shahed-238, an upgraded long-range loitering munition Tehran unveiled in November. Moscow has not officially detailed its own version of the new weapon, but Ukraine's intelligence and Western analysts have reported that it's likely building a model with the Tolou‑10/13 jet engine to vastly increase the drone's speed. Open-source intelligence sources said as early as January that Ukraine may have shot down at least one Shahed-238-type drone, indicating limited Russian use. In June, images published by Ukrainian Telegram channels appeared to show destroyed fragments of such drones in the country. In both earlier reports and the Air Force Command's update on Wednesday, it's unclear if these were prototypes or finalized drones. But if deployed en masse against Ukraine, the new upgraded drone could pose a major problem for Kyiv's air defenses. The Shahed-238 is said to be much faster than the Shahed-136, which is locally produced in Russia as the Geran-2 — the Kremlin's main attack drone against Ukraine. While the Shahed-136 is known to fly at top speeds of 115 mph, a Russian general told state media in December that the Shahed-238 could fly as fast as 500 mph. Extended independent analyses on the drone's still aren't publicly available, and it's possible that the munition can only fly that fast while diving. At such speed, however, the jet-powered drone would be nearly as fast as a cruise missile. That would be a nearly impossible target for Ukraine's mobile fire groups, or the vehicle-mounted machine gun crews it's relied on to fight off Shahed-136s. This year, mobile fire groups are already being overwhelmed by the sheer number of Russian Shahed-136s launched every night. To shore up the gap, Ukraine has started prioritizing interceptor drones, which also risk being rendered obsolete if jet-powered Shaheds become mainstream. Interceptor drones, built secretly by Ukrainian companies, already need to fly much faster than the Shahed-136 since they must catch up to the loitering munition after it's detected. A Shahed-238 or Geran-3 moving at 500 mph would require an intercepting drone to fly nearly three times as fast as before. "In such a case, promising antiaircraft interceptor UAVs, unfortunately, will be powerless," wrote a Ukrainian military blogger in late June. Ukraine does have advanced anti-air missile defenses for faster targets, such as the US-made Patriot system, which has even been reported to take down the hypersonic Kinzhal missile. Still, Ukraine typically reserves these expensive anti-air munitions for ballistic missiles; expending them to neutralize waves of Shahed drones would be unsustainable.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Ukrainian Air Force release footage showing drones, downed in Odesa Oblast, fall into sea
Soldiers from the Odesa-based mobile fire groups of the Air Command Pivden (South) destroyed seven Russian Shahed attack drones on the night of 9-10 June. Source: Air Force Command press service Details: The Air Force released a video showing the downed drones falling into the sea. Background: On the night of 9-10 June, the Russians attacked Odesa with strike drones. Two people were killed, and a maternity hospital, ambulance station and a railway station were damaged. The Air Command Pivden (South) reported that ten Shahed attack UAVs and other types of drones were destroyed. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia launches 95 drones on Ukraine: 61 downed, 7 strikes recorded
Russian forces launched an air attack on Ukraine on the night of 3-4 June, using 95 strike UAVs of the Shahed type and various decoy drones. Source: Air Force Command of Ukraine on Facebook Details: As of 09:00, Ukraine's air defence has destroyed 61 Russian drones, including Shahed UAVs and others, in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country. Of these, 36 were shot down and 25 were suppressed by electronic warfare or disappeared from radar (without causing any adverse effects). The main targets of the air assault were Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Donetsk oblasts. Strikes were recorded at seven locations. Ukrainian aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units and UAV units, as well as mobile fire groups from the Ukrainian defence forces, all took part in repelling the attack. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia attacks with 112 UAVs overnight: 60 downed, 15 go off radar, strikes recorded
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 112 Shahed-type attack UAVs and various types of decoy drones on the night of 2-3 June. Source: Air Force Command on Facebook Details: As of 09:00, Ukrainian air defence had destroyed 75 Russian Shahed-type UAVs and other types of drones in the east, south and north of the country. Sixty drones were shot down by air defence assets, and 15 disappeared from radar or were suppressed by electronic warfare. The Air Force reported that strikes were recorded at 11 locations. The air attack was repelled by aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units and UAV units, as well as mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian defence forces. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's air defence shoots down 41 out of 112 Russian drones, 35 go off radar
Russian troops attacked Ukraine with 112 Shahed-type attack UAVs and various types of decoy drones on the night of 18-19 May. Source: Air Force Command on Facebook Details: As of 09:00, air defence has downed 76 Russian Shahed UAVs and other types of drones over Ukraine's eastern, northern, southern and central oblasts. A total of 41 drones were shot down by air defence and 35 disappeared from radar suppressed by electronic warfare systems (without causing adverse effects). The Russian attack affected Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad oblasts. The air attack was repelled by Ukrainian aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare systems and mobile fire teams from the defence forces. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
