“The presence of Shahed-136 in (the) Ukraine war is undoubtedly changing the operational plans of Kyiv,” founder and chief executive of strategic consulting firm Red Six Solutions Scott Crino told The Wall Street Journal in September.
According to Mr Crino, the “sheer size” of Ukraine battlefield makes it hard to defend against the Shahed-136.
“Once a Shahed locks onto target, it will be hard to stop,” he said.
Ukraine military spokeswoman Nataliya Houmeniouk told AFP in September that the Shahed-136 drones are “very difficult to detect because they fly very low. But they make a lot of noise, like a chainsaw or a scooter”, which means that they can be heard from afar.
She added that although their effectiveness is “very low”, they mainly put “psychological pressure on the population” .
WHEN DID RUSSIA START USING THEM?
In July, CNN reported that a Russian delegation visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice since June to examine weapons-capable drones. In August, Russian officials began training with the drones, CNN said, citing a US official.
On Sep 13, Ukraine shot down a Shahed-136.
According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine Facebook page, the Russian army renamed the drone the Geran-2 (Geranium-2 in English). Images shared by a Ukrainian officer show debris from the drone, with a tail fin marked with “Geran-2” in Cyrillic.
For all the latest world News Click Here
