Iranian Shahed drones overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses – FT
Iranian-designed Shahed drones now manufactured in Russia are overwhelming Ukraine’s air defenses and increasing the success rate of attacks, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
Iranian-designed Shahed drones now manufactured in Russia are overwhelming Ukraine’s air defenses and increasing the success rate of attacks, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
According to data released by Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia is intensifying drone swarm attacks while limiting their targets to two or three locations.
On Monday alone, Ukraine reported what it described as 200 Shahed-type strikes on its official Telegram channel.
The Shahed-136 drone was originally designed and manufactured in Iran. Russia has begun producing the drone domestically, giving it a Russian name and modifying it for greater speed to evade air defenses.
Russian-manufactured Shahed drones are called Geran, or Geranium, in keeping with a Soviet-era tradition of naming weapons after flowers.
Russia often uses Shahed drones in combination with ballistic missile barrages to overwhelm Ukrainian air defense systems.
Ukraine counters drone attacks through electronic jamming of guidance systems and the use of anti-aircraft guns.
Financial Times analysis shows that the likelihood of Shahed drones hitting their targets has tripled over the past month.
The United States has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on Iran’s drone production and procurement networks.
In February, the Trump administration sanctioned six entities in Hong Kong and mainland China for facilitating the acquisition of components used in Iranian armed drones.
