Iranian Army drone training scene [사진 출처 = 연합뉴스]Russia, which invaded Ukraine with tanks and armored vehicles, was helpless by anti-tank missiles Javelin and drones.
Javelin and Drone played the role of ‘Ukrainian guardian deity’ on land and in the sky, respectively.
Drones, a relatively inexpensive weapon, dealt a serious blow to the Russian army. They destroyed tanks and armored vehicles, as well as sank patrol boats.
The Russian military later realized the importance of drones. More drones are being deployed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Furthermore, it has reached out to Iran to secure an attack drone equipped with a missile.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 29th (local time), Iran has recently sent the first shipment of an elite military drone to Russia. It’s part of hundreds of pieces.
It was reported that a Russian transport plane left Iran on the 19th of this month, carrying Iranian-made drones ‘Mohazer-6’, ‘Shahed-129’ and ‘Shahed-191’.
All of these models have surveillance capabilities and can be equipped with weapons for precision strikes. It is said to be capable of attacking military targets, including radar and anti-tank guns.
Prior to this, Iran held a presentation of the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones, known as UAVs, to a Russian government delegation at Kashan Airfield south of the capital Tehran last month.
Currently, Russia has 1,500 to 2,000 military surveillance drones. However, there are not many attack drones for precision strike.
On the other hand, from the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine inflicted damage to the Russian army with the Turkish-made attack drone ‘Viraktar TB2’.
Iranian drones are expected to pose a threat to the Ukrainian military. On the other hand, it is pointed out that it will not pose a significant threat to the Ukrainian army because of its performance problems.
“Iranian drones have never been operated in sophisticated air defense environments,” said Michael Knights, a military security expert at the Washington Near East Policy Research Institute (WINEP), a national think tank. But overall, it didn’t go well.”
Sam Bendet, a Russian military expert at CNA, a non-profit research institute in the US, said, “The only places Russia, in need of a lot of combat drones, can turn to for help are China and Iran.” “In the end, the only option left is Iran.”
Ukraine is also active in securing drones.
On the 23rd, Taiwan News, an English newspaper in Taiwan, citing Polish media ‘WP tech’, reported that 800 attack drones ‘Revolver 860’ were handed over to the Ukrainian military through Poland.
The Revolver 860 is a drone capable of firing mortar shells in the air. It weighs 42 kg and has a diameter of 1.35 m. It can fly in 20-40 minutes to a distance of up to 20 km. It can carry 8 60mm mortar shells.
It can also be modified to carry 81mm and 120mm mortar shells.
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