Russia conserves missiles, shifts to drone warfare in Ukraine

The Russians are beginning to economize in the war with Ukraine—at least that's the view of aviation expert Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, the deputy general director of a company producing electronic warfare equipment. Khrapchynskyi points out that the Russian Federation has increased its use of assault drones (mainly Shaheds and their cheaper counterparts).

– The Russian Federation can launch cruise missiles, but it opts to use Shaheds and creates simulated targets for the Ukrainian air defence forces. What does this mean? That Russia is starting to save on the war, says Khrapchynskyi. He adds that the aggressor's army understands using strategic bombers with missiles capable of covering several thousand kilometres is costly.

– This saving is necessary for the Russian Federation if the conflict escalated and it became necessary to strike the USA or Europe at "decision-making centres," as the Russians like to say. Therefore, it's important to understand that the Russian Federation is trying to economize, which is why we are seeing an increase in Shahed-type attack drones and even plywood drones.

Shahed-136 drones, known as Geran-2 in Russia, are currently equipped with an engine that is a copy of the German Limbach L550E, operating under the name Mado MD550. The engine, with a power of 50 HP, allows the unmanned aircraft to reach speeds of about 185 km/h. Shaheds are capable of covering distances of up to 1,900 km, according to some sources.

Geran-2 has a length of about 3.5 metres, and a wingspan of approximately 2.4 metres. The total weight of this device is 200 kg, with the warhead alone weighing 40 kg. There are also versions of Shaheds in which the Russians have introduced Komet receivers, whose function is to reduce the impact of interference generated by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.