Shaheds already mount air-to-air missiles to fire on Ukrainian planes trying to shoot them down. Now, they are putting decoy missiles on these drones to confuse defenders.
Defense ministry adviser Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov on 30 March posted an image of a Shahed with what resembles an R-60 air-to-air missile on top at first glance. But this is a fake.
“The goal is to intimidate our aviation and draw the attention of interceptors," Flash wrote.
While he added that the military "knows how to respond to such things," he also pointed out that everyone will try to destroy such a priority target. "We need to think about how we can distinguish Shaheds with fake missiles."
R-60 missiles have been found on the wreckage of downed Shaheds since at least December. They are infrared homing missiles with a range of 10 kilometers that have been used on a wide range of Russia's manned aircraft and are used in many countries around the world.
These allow the attack drones to pose a threat not just to the target, but to the helicopters and planes trying to shoot them down.
Helicopters are an important part of Ukraine's air defense. Top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi told reporters in october that choppers can sometimes shoot down up to 40% of drones in their area.
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Ukraine also heavily uses planes, be they Western F-16s or Ukraine’s venerable Migs. These are often deployed against missiles, but Ukrainians have also started using light aviation to shoot down attack drones.
Shaheds can carry more than missiles — they can also be configured to launch smaller FPV drones. The Darknode unit of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces shot one down earlier this month before it was able to release the FPVs.
Russia’s constant iteration on this once-Iranian weapon is progressively making it trickier to deal with, forcing Ukraine to adapt in response.
