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Олександр КузьменкоWeapon
27 November 2024, 14:20
2024-11-27
The army of the Russian Federation updated the record of drones used in one attack in Ukraine to 188 UAVs. The invaders are ramping up the production of Shahed drones, and may triple last year's figures
On the night of Tuesday, November 26, Russia launched a record number of drones over Ukraine — the Defense Forces had to repel an attack by 188 UAVs. The production facilities of the Russian Federation are constantly trying to increase the number of released Shahed kamikaze drones per month, and if in February of this year we were talking about 300-500 such drones, then by the end of 2024 their number may approach 900 units.
On the night of Tuesday, November 26, Russia launched a record number of drones over Ukraine — the Defense Forces had to repel an attack by 188 UAVs. The production facilities of the Russian Federation are constantly trying to increase the number of released Shahed kamikaze drones per month, and if in February of this year we were talking about 300-500 such drones, then by the end of 2024 their number may approach 900 units.
«During the night attack, the enemy launched a record number of Shahed-type attack UAVs and unmanned aerial vehicles of an unknown type from the directions — Orel, Bryansk, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk — Russian Federation»? — the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on November 26.
According to their data, 192 air targets were detected at that time — 4 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 188 enemy UAVs:
76 enemy drones were shot down by air defense;
95 UAVs were «locationally lost», presumably due to active anti-aircraft defense of the Defense Forces;
5 drones flew towards Belarus.
«Unfortunately, critical infrastructure objects have been hit, and private and multi-apartment buildings have been damaged in several regions due to a mass attack by UAVs. Previously, there were no victims or victims», — added the Air Force.
How Russia is increasing the production of kamikaze drones
In January 2024, a representative of the General Directorate of Intelligence, Major General, Deputy Chief of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadym Skibitsky, said that, according to the department’s estimate, Russia can produce 300-350 Shahed-type kamikaze attack drones per month.
«But, again, it depends on whether there are parts, because, for example, there may be hulls, combat parts, but no engines. They collected what they could and are waiting only for the engines. Engines have arrived — and accordingly, the number of finished products will increase, there will be more than 300 of them», — he said.
However, already in February Andriy Kulchytskyi, the head of the department of the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Sciences (KNDISE), which studies missile, artillery weapons and drones of the Russian Federation, reported that Russia is capable of independently producing 400-500 Shahed per month.
According to him, since the first arrivals of these drones in the fall of 2022, the Russians have passed several logistical and technological stages. In particular, Shahed received various modifications with different warheads and power plants.
Why are there more Shahed?
Many elements of the original Iranian Shahed-136 design were simplified to simplify and speed up production. Now the Russian Federation specifically orders simplified engines for these drones and has further optimized the design of this long-range drone.
Defense Express reported that adjustments were made to the engine, a relatively inexpensive MD550 model (a copy of the German Limbach L550E), which is a 50 horsepower two-stroke engine. They are produced mostly in China, and are adapted to the needs of the Russian Federation, which allows reducing costs per unit of production, get larger orders for engines and produce more drones.
Although the estimated cost of the Shahed-136 drone is from $40,000 to $50,000, its actual price in serial production reached about $193,000. However, Russia is trying to reduce this cost with similar design solutions.
Where Russians produce Shahed
The occupying country continues to ramp up drone production at the Alabuga (Tatarstan) plant and has reportedly reached 6,000 Shahed-136s by September 2024 — a full year ahead of schedule. According to Western analysts, peak production may reach 600-800 units per month, some publications announce the planned figure of 900 units per month.
In March, it became known that Russia has opened a new workshop that manufactures Shahed/"Geran» barrage ammunition. In April 2023, a factory for the assembly of drones from Iranian spare parts was already operational in the Russian Federation. By 2025, production should switch to a completely closed cycle, already with Russian components.
It was also reported that the Lodka project for the production of attack drones, which cost Russia 108.5 billion rubles, involves the construction of a plant and the production of 6,000 drones at its capacity over 2.5 years.
«The production of kamikaze drones is planned to be carried out underground and students of vocational schools will be involved in the assembly. According to the plan, production at the TOT should speed up the delivery of drones to the launch sites»? — the Center of National Resistance (CNS) claims.
According to him, the enemy plans to store drones in urban buildings, «actually using the local population as a human shield.»
Not only Shahed
Soon, not only the Iranian-Russian Shaheds but also the Chinese «Harpies» may become a problem for Ukraine. As Reuters reports with references to European intelligence sources, Russia has launched a plant in China for the development and production of long-range strike drones.
According to the report, IEMZ «Kupol», a subsidiary of the Russian state arms company «Almaz-Antey», has developed and conducted flight tests in China of a new model of the Harpiya-3 (G3) drone with the help of local specialists. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was unaware of the project; the department noted that the country has introduced strict measures to control the export of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
It is stated that the Harpia-3 drone is capable of flying over 2,000 km. Its payload is 50 kg. Intelligence sources claim that Almaz-Antey’s «daughter» has already produced more than 2,500 Harpies from July 2023 to July 2024. They could already be used for attacks on Ukraine.
