Iran's suicide drone dismantled: cheap, lots of civilian parts

赵玉田

Iran's suicide drone dismantled: cheap, lots of civilian parts [Copy link]

 

The latest news shows that the Ukrainian army picked up a crashed Iranian "Shahed-136" suicide drone in Nikolayev Oblast. Since it fell on the river beach, the drone was relatively intact. The outside world can also get a certain understanding of this Iranian suicide drone that frequently appears on the Ukrainian battlefield from the on-site photos and videos released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

By comparing it with the surrounding Ukrainian soldiers, it is found that the "Shahed-136" suicide drone is larger than many people imagine. In fact, the photos previously released by Iran prove this: the "Shahed-136" suicide drone is usually loaded on a truck disguised as a container and launched with rocket boost. The larger size, plus its flying wing layout can hold more fuel, the claim that the "Witness-136" suicide drone has a range of more than 1,800 kilometers is quite credible.

The body of the "Shahed-136" suicide drone is made of composite materials, not metal, and it flies at low altitudes, which makes it difficult to detect this drone using radar. In addition, the "Shahed-136" suicide drone was also found to use a large number of cheap civilian equipment, such as civilian GPS navigation receivers, which makes its cost very low. It is reported that the unit price of the "Witness-136" suicide drone does not exceed 100,000 US dollars, or even only about 50,000 US dollars. Although its strike accuracy is not high, it is still very cost-effective to use it to strike high-value surface targets.

Natalia Humenyuk, head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Southern Press Center, claimed that so far, the Ukrainian army has shot down 116 Iranian suicide drones on the southern front alone, and Iranian suicide drones have hit 34 times, but these hits do not always hit the target, and many times they only hit the open air or water.

It is difficult for the outside world to verify what Natalia Humenyuk said, but judging from some information, the slow-moving "Witness-136" suicide drone can be easily shot down once it is discovered. Anti-aircraft missiles, even small-caliber anti-aircraft guns and machine guns can shoot it down.

The simplicity of its navigation equipment also means that its accuracy is relatively poor. The relatively poor accuracy here refers to those rockets launched by the HIMARS compared with satellite-guided weapons that use GPS military codes. Compared with unguided rockets, the Shahed-136 suicide drone has a very high accuracy.

In addition, according to Ukrainian inspections and information previously revealed by Russia, there are many problems with the performance and reliability of Iranian drones. After all, they are made of consumer-grade components, and many are crude imitations. The reason why the Russian government purchased Iranian drones is mainly because the Russian military industry cannot provide similar products, and they cannot be bought from other countries except Iran.

Russia purchased not only the Shahed-136 from Iran, but also the Shahed-131. The Shahed-131 is an earlier version of the Witness-136, but has a similar operating principle and is likely to be largely unified in all major components (mainly electronic equipment).

In addition, the layout and aerodynamic solutions are identical, and experts have already disassembled and studied this drone in detail.

(Iranian Shahed-131 kamikaze drone)

The FCU flight control unit of the Shahed-131 kamikaze drone uses a custom printed circuit board (PCB) with five Texas Instruments TMS320 F28335 "Texas Instruments" processors, a highly integrated and efficient chipset suitable for demanding control programs.

The engine control unit (ECU) consists of a printed circuit board with a Texas Instruments processor, which controls all features of the engine during flight.

The Shahed-131 kamikaze drone guidance system has only a civilian-grade GPS receiver, making this drone specifically designed to attack stationary objects. The drone's internal electronic systems are specially marked, all written in English. The device's GPS guidance system is difficult to suppress through electronic warfare.

According to experts, a system has been added to the GPS guidance system to prevent the GPS signal from being interfered with by electronic warfare (EW). The drone is equipped with a primitive inertial system that allows it to maintain an approximate heading and altitude when satellite navigation is prohibited.
Researchers point out: When the drone flies into an area where the GPS signal is suppressed, it begins to drift and the error of the inertial system itself increases. Depending on the speed and direction of the wind, the deviation can reach 5% of the distance flown without GPS. The error will occur at 250 meters in a 5-kilometer flight, and when the GPS signal is restored, the drone will correct the error heading and continue flying.

The Shahed-136 drone, which is the most widely used in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, is named Geran-2 in Russia. It has a range of 1,800-2,500 kilometers, a length of 3.5 meters, a wingspan of 2.5 meters, a maximum weight of 200 kilograms, and a speed of 185 kilometers per hour.

(Downed Shahed-136 Geran-2)

lugl4313820

The Shahed-136 drone, which was the most widely used in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, is named Geran-2 in Russia. Has our big zombie never been shot down?

sint27

Is it Iran's "small motorcycle"? It is said that the flying sound is similar to that of a motorcycle engine, so it got its name

赵玉田

sint27 posted on 2022-10-21 08:16 Is it Iran's "small motorcycle"? It is said that the flying sound is similar to that of a motorcycle engine, so it got its name

Really, hahahaha

史蒂芬

This war has shown us the importance of independent research and development and manufacturing. We hope that there will be more companies that make chips in a down-to-earth manner, and fewer companies that speculate and cheat on preferential policies and support funds.

nmg

Is the author of the disassembly a war correspondent? It feels so cool, I think I also picked up one

工程人傲来

There is technology in it.

chunyang

In a certain country, many people would definitely say after seeing this: $50,000? Huge profits, so they would be eager to try, but they have no way to sell it...

chunyang

If we can attract anti-aircraft missiles, even if the missiles are always successful, the value exchange ratio will still be a huge profit...

秦天qintian0303

That's how it should be done. Russia can't afford to launch missiles all the time. Although it has a full range of models, it can't be sustained. It uses this kind of suicide drone, which is hard to defend against.

秦天qintian0303

I guess there was a sensitive word. The comment I posted was gray.

led2015

Foreigners really know how to play. If they continue like this, the utilization rate of waste will be improved to a one-time effect, and the maximum benefit will be obtained with the minimum damage.

Honghuzaitian

The Shenzhen toy factory is not very familiar with this thing. They should make some real and fake drones to mix and use, which will reduce the cost and consume the other party's financial resources.

hahajing

Don't even think about it. Even if you make bullet shells, you will end up in jail. You can't even get the most basic ammunition, and it's measured in hundreds of kilograms. Even if you make it, would you dare to sell it?