HISTORY

The Ukrainians fished out of the Black Sea a nearly intact Iranian Mohajer-6 drone.

cause of the accident remains unknown.

It could have been pilot’s error, sudden

mechanical failure or combination of both.

Another accident took place on October 1 at

Belbek airbase in Sevastopol, Crimea. Mig31 was unable to gain altitude after the take

off. A pilot aborted the take off however did

not manage to stop the aircraft before the

end of runway, slipped of it and crashed on

the cliffs above the seacoast. The explosion

of the ordnance carried under the wing followed and the Russian pilot perished.

Besides the aircraft and helicopters which

destruction was confirmed during the reporting period, the wrecks of the aircraft

shot down in the preceding months were

found. These have not been recorded in the

loss reports yet. The most interesting discovery of this kind was Su-30SM carrying

the registration number RF-81773 and “red

62” call sign. The Ukrainian soldiers found

its wreck near Izyum but the plane could

have been shot down several months earlier. All that time the Russians have not

attempted to recover or destroy it, which is

surprising as there was a newest system

for the electronic warfare on board called

Chibiny-U. It consists of the RTU 518-PSM

container with the active jamming system

located on the right wingtip, RTU 518-LSM1

container with the passive detection of the

signals hostile to the aircraft located on the

left wingtip and the system KS REP in the

fuselage. The container RTU 518-PSM was

found at the Su-30SM crash site almost intact which will be a gold mine for the Western intelligence.

1 only four Ukrainian aircraft have been

shot down. On September 7, on his 95th

combat mission, Vadym Blagovisny, Su-25

pilot from 299th Tactical Air Brigade was

killed. He perished a week before his 27th

birthday. On September 19, near Yehorivka in the Donetsk area another Ukrainian Su-25 was shot down. Pilot’s fate remains unknown. The Russian media later

stated that he had been hit by 9K33 Osa

(SA-8 Gecko), a self-propelled AA system. On September 29 in the Kherson area

a Ukrainian Su-24 was destroyed. One of

its engines was hit by an air-ground missile and set of fire. The crew ejected and

survived. Only couple of days earlier the

Ukrainians published a video showing

a pair of Su-24 dropping the para-bombs

on the Russian positions. The Ukrainian

Su-24s should have been all completely

destroyed long time ago, according to the

Russian claim. Apparently, they continue

to fly and fight. Thursday September 29

however was a black day for the Ukrainian AF. Besides the aforementioned Su-24,

a Mig-29 was lost in combat. Its pilot,

26-years old Maj. Taras Redkin was killed.

Weapons from Iran

Another crucial event was noted during

the reporting period – Russian deployment

of the Iranian drones. It remains unknown

how many of them Iran delivered, tens of

Mohajer-6 and Shahed-129 and several

hundreds of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones

are mentioned. It was reported that as far

as Shahed-136 is concerned Russia is interested in several thousands of them. Iran

has denied any drones’ deliveries. It is logical, it would be a breach of the sanctions

which prohibit the export of select types

of weapons. There is a proof, however.

On September 23, near Odessa a Mohajer-6 drone was fished out of the Black Sea.

It had been shot down there previously. The

miniature guided missile was still hanging

under its wing. Its avionics must have been

examined in detail in order to develop the

countermeasures. A number of countries

will certainly be interested in them. At least

two Shahed-129 drones were shot down by

the Ukrainian forces. These are fairly large

drones. Mohajer-6 wingspan is 10 meters,

Shahed-129 16 meters. They are propelled

by a noisy reciprocal engine, fly slowly (200

kph and 150 kph) and are easily detected by

radar. Their advantage is a very long range,

2,000 km, and 1,700 km respectively.

The most widely used UAVs in the Russian service are however the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. They are 3.5 m

long, feature delta wing and are propelled

by four cylinder reciprocal engine driving

a pusher propeller. Their maximum speed is 185 kph. The range is not known, it

is said to be around 2000 km. The aircraft

weighs 200 kilos out of which 40 kilos go to

the explosive head. The Ukrainians nicknamed them “moped” thanks to their typical

engine sound. The information about their

efficiency vary. One extreme opinion state

that they are exceptionally dangerous and

cause Ukrainians heavy losses. The opposite opinion describes them as primitive

and easy to destroy. As usual the truth is

somewhere in between. Shahed-136 drones are in fact easy to shoot down. They

fly slow and low, and it was reported that

the infantry shot them down with Kalashnikovs. For that reason, the Russians launch

them in large numbers and waves to choke the defenses and let at least couple of

them to penetrate to the target. Once they

manage that they are accurate and therefore efficient.

Ukrainian losses

During the reported period the speaker of

the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov announced that from the beginning of the “special military operation” 300

Ukrainian aircraft have been shot down.

This is an oddity of the Russian propaganda since anyone even remotely interested in the matter knows that Ukraine has

never had so many aircraft altogether. On

the contrary, from September 1 to October

24

INFO Eduard

The Russians have begun using Iran's Shahed-136 kamikaze drones in large numbers.

November 2022