Russia escalates drone attacks on Ukraine with new Shahed-136

Russia has begun attacks on Ukrainian cities using upgraded Shahed-136 drones, which carry almost twice the explosive payload compared to the basic versions of these machines. According to UNITED24 Media, these unmanned aerial vehicles, originally designed in Iran, are mass-produced in Russia and are continuously modified to outsmart Ukrainian air defences. Ukrainians have already examined these machines and claim that they pose a significant challenge to the defenders.

The upgraded Shahed-136 drones have been equipped with 90-kilogram warheads, a significant increase compared to earlier versions, which had warheads weighing 50 kilograms. The increase in explosive payload from 28 kilograms to 62 kilograms makes them much more destructive and effective. However, to accommodate the heavier payload, Russian engineers had to shorten the flight range of these drones from 1,350 kilometers to around 650 kilometers.

Testing of the new Shahed-136 series machines began in 2023, and within six months, Russia launched about 30 drones at Ukrainian cities to assess their effectiveness (which, according to Ukrainians, is already quite high). If the version with the 90-kilogram warhead proves successful, Russia plans to increase orders to 1,000 units of this weapon.

The production of Shahed drones in Russia has significantly accelerated recently. From January to mid-June 2024, Moscow launched 2,277 drones, and between August and October 2024, this number increased to 4,300 units. In October alone, Russia used over 2,000 of these autonomous machines.

The aggressor plans to continue intense production of Shahed drones in 2025, which may mean further threats to Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians. Production includes various variants of drones, including those with thermobaric and fragmentation-incendiary warheads.