The Iran-made drones Russia is flying into Ukrainian targets are the same type that hit an oil tanker in 2021, killing two people, according to the Pentagon’s Defense intelligence Agency.
(Bloomberg) — The Iran-made drones Russia is flying into Ukrainian targets are the same type that hit an oil tanker in 2021, killing two people, according to the Pentagon’s Defense intelligence Agency.
It’s the latest indication that pilotless aircraft have become weapons embedded in the world’s arsenals. The defense agency issued an unusually detailed schematic analysis Tuesday, with charts and pictures of debris documenting Russian use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
“Photos of UAV debris and components from Ukraine are consistent with systems showcased at military expos and other venues in the Middle East,” the intelligence agency said. “This analysis confirms Russia’s use of various Iranian lethal UAVs in its war in Ukraine.”
The DIA’s release of a public assessment was unusual but consistent with Biden administration efforts to declassify information about Russia’s capabilities and weapons systems as one way to build support for Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces. The publication includes color images of drone fragments such as engines recovered in Ukraine.
The Iranian-built Shahed-136, renamed Geran-2 by the Russians, “has a distinctive shape, with a delta-wing body and vertical stabilizers extending above and below the body, as displayed in Iranian press and military expos,” the Defense Intelligence Agency said.
Iran used the Shahed-136 in the 2021 attack against the MT Mercer Street as the tanker sailed off Oman and has sent the system to Houthi fighters in Yemen, the report said. The Houthis haven’t used the system in an attack to date “but have displayed it publicly.”
A senior US defense official familiar with Iran’s military told reporters Tuesday that the drones provided to Russia are now part of Iran’s order of battle. The air vehicles could be used against US air and ground forces in the Middle East in swarming attacks that would resemble slower-moving versions of cruise missiles, the official said. US Air Forces in the region now regularly practice air defense tactics using fighters, radar and ground-based system to blunt drones swarms.
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