Валентин Шнайдер Weapon 31 March 2026, 10:47

russians began attaching mock-ups of R-60 missiles to Shaheds to distract Ukrainian interceptor drones

Defense Ministry Advisor Sergey Flesh showed how Russian troops began equipping Shahed-type strike drones with mock R-60 aircraft missiles.

Leave a comment

russians began attaching mock-ups of R-60 missiles to Shaheds to distract Ukrainian interceptor drones

Defense Ministry Advisor Sergey Flesh showed how Russian troops began equipping Shahed-type strike drones with mock R-60 aircraft missiles.

According to Serhiy Flesh’s Telegram channel, the enemy is using mock-ups of R-60 missiles to psychologically influence Ukrainian aviation and force interceptor forces to react to the «Shahed» as a more dangerous target. While such tricks are not fundamentally new for army aviation, for numerous mobile groups and interceptor units in various branches of the armed forces this can create an unnecessary burden and a temptation to spend resources on such a device.

The R-60 missile is a Soviet short-range air-to-air missile designed to destroy aircraft and helicopters. It is a well-recognizable aircraft weapon, so even its mock-up on a drone can act as a visual decoy. In fact, the Russians are trying to make Ukrainian defenders see not just a loitering munition, but a supposedly more complex and high-priority threat.

Against this background, as Flash notes, it is important to quickly develop clear signs by which one can distinguish «Shaheeds» with fake elements from devices that can really carry additional weapons. Attention will probably have to be paid to the method of attachment, the proportions of the suspension, the symmetry of the placement, as well as the general behavior of the target in flight. Otherwise, the enemy will be able to achieve the effect even without a real increase in the combat capabilities of the drone.

The use of the R-60 on Russian Shaheds was publicly reported back in late 2025. Back then, it was no longer a matter of dummies, but of attempts to adapt this missile to drones to pose a threat to Ukrainian aviation. Now, it seems, we are talking about an even simpler and cheaper way of influencing: not so much to hit the target, but to disorient the defense, make it react nervously, and scatter attention.

Previously, dev.ua wrote about how the Sternenko Community, together with the Ukrainian UAV manufacturer Wild Hornets, developed Hornet Vision Ctrl technology, which allows shooting down Russian «shaheeds» remotely.

The first downed "Shaheeds" and Zala: Mykhailo Fedorov showed how private air defense works to protect businesses

Ukrainian interceptor drones have already shot down about a third of enemy "shaheeds"

A "Lancet" with artificial intelligence apparently crashed near the Independence Monument. Serhiy Flesh believes that these fragments could have been intentionally dropped from the "Shahedi"