Ukraine matches Russia in the production of Shahed drone analogs with capabilities similar to the Iranian-designed models in terms of explosive payload, range, and other tech parameters, Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said.
Russia uses swarms of the cheap yet lethal Shahed drones in its daily air attacks against Ukrainian regions far behind the frontline and has started to produce them domestically, with the possible strategy of overwhelming Ukraine’s air defenses. Meanwhile, Ukraine has launched domestically-produced long-range drones to reach strategic objects on Russian territory due to the Western ban on using their long-range missiles on Russian soil.
According to Kamyshin, Ukraine is producing analogs of the Shahed drones, including models 131 and 136, with capabilities similar to the Iranian-designed UAVs in terms of explosive payload, range, and other technical parameters.
“This year, our capabilities to produce (kamikaze drones – ed.) are not less than those of Russia,” said Kamyshin.
Earlier, Kamyshin said that Ukraine is mass-producing “more than five” indigenous analogs of Russia’s Iranian-made Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones.
The Shahed-131 suicide drone, which Russia calls Geran-1, carries a 15 kg warhead, while the larger Shahed-136 (“Geran-2” in Russia) carries 50 kg of explosives.
Three publicly known Ukrainian analogs of Shahed-131 are the drones UJ-26 Bober, AQ 400 Scythe, and Cobra.
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