Russia is likely expending a high number of Iranian Shahed-136 UAVs in order to penetrate increasingly effective Ukrainian air defences, Report informs referring to the Twitter page of the UK Defense Ministry.
“Russia continues to use Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) against targets throughout Ukraine. Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAVs are increasingly successful,” reads the report.
Official sources, including President Zelenskyy, claim that up to 85% of attacks are being intercepted.
Russia is likely using them as a substitute for Russian-manufactured long-range precision weapons which are becoming increasingly scarce.
These UAVs are slow, noisy and fly at low altitudes, making lone aircraft easy to target conventional air defences.