“We have information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including the Shahed-129 attack aircraft. They may end up with separatists in Donbass later on,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN.
Also, the story that Shahed-129 could fall into the hands of DPR and LPR was shown by the French TV channel TF1.
Iran has been noticeably successful in the creation and development of combat drones of 8 different modifications. UAV Shahed-129 is considered one of the best. He also gained real combat experience in Syria and Iraq. This drone is armed with Sadid-345 high-precision drift grenades with fragmentation warhead and Sadid-1 anti-tank missiles.
“There is no data on such an agreement and there cannot be, at least until the deadline, since such agreements are not advertised. But it is absolutely impossible to exclude such deliveries, ”the military expert Sergei Belousov told socialbites.ca.
It is believed that the Iranian Shahed-129 was copied from an American MQ-1 Predator drone and Israeli Hermes 450, which crashed in Iran. It is similar to these UAVs both externally and in terms of features.
In the current version, its length is about 8 m, wingspan 16 m and combat load 400 kg. The maximum speed is 150 km / h, the flight time is 24 hours, and the combat radius is 170 km.
“Iran Shahed-129, if these drones are supplied, most likely will be transferred to the units of the LPR and DPR People’s Militia,” military expert, reserve colonel Gennady Alekhin told Gazeta.ru. – They do not have such equipment, currently used drones are mainly used for reconnaissance, less often shocking low-power ammunition. Now only Russian troops have heavy UAVs. If the People’s Militia gets its own long-range attack aircraft, destruction power and accuracy, the situation on the front line could change dramatically.
At the same time, the expert emphasized that the Russian Armed Forces does not need Iranian drones – they are successfully used by the Russian Pacer UAV, also known as Orion-10, during special operations.
With some similarities with the Shahed-129, the Russian UAV has great capabilities. Combat radius 300 km, speed – 200 km / h, slightly less combat load – 300 kg.
“Again, the Russian military has almost completely abandoned imports and uses almost entirely domestically produced equipment and weapons. This is due to the standards imposed on manufacturers by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the possibility of interchangeability of components. In addition, the Russian assault UAV Inohodets can compete with the best models in the world,” he said.
A similar point of view is shared by a military observer, captain of the 1st rank of reservist Alexander Khrolenko.
“LPR and DPR can use effective systems and complexes produced by friendly countries, including Iran, during a special operation in Ukraine,” Khrolenko told Gazeta.ru. – It is clear that the intensive use of Iranian-made offensive drones will increase the offensive potential of the Russian troops and the People’s Militia of the Donbass Republics. It is not so important who will keep them at his disposal, the real issue here will be a lot more attack aircraft that can disable enemy equipment and weapons.”
Khrolenko adds that this is not only “technologically possible and tactically possible, but also very elegant politically.”
“There will be such a blow to the nose of the USA and NATO from the multipolar world. Ukraine is becoming a battleground between the US and Iran. Unbelievable but true. “Iranian drones will destroy American HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and other Western weapons,” he said.
he concluded.
Source: Gazeta
