Iryna Pohorila22:22, 12.09.24

Contrary to all the tricks of the Russians regarding the use of “shaheds”, Ukraine came up with an innovative system for their detection.

During the first 11 days of September,  the occupiers launched more than 400 Shahed attack drones across Ukraine. But the Armed Forces fight back by changing the tactics of combating the growing threat of “shaheeds”.

According to Forbes , the frequency of drone attacks is increasing: in August there were almost 800 of them, which is the highest figure this year. At the same time, the Russians are changing the nature of drone attacks to make them more effective.

Contrary to all the tricks of the Russians regarding the use of Shaheds, Ukraine has invented an innovative system for their detection: throughout the country, many network microphones mounted on poles listen for the sound of the Shahed engine, and a central air defense system compares the microphone data to track the route of each drone and calculate its likely probability target.

Mobile air defense groups then advance to a position to intercept “shaheeds”, receiving data via tablets. The newspaper noted that since the majority of men are on the front lines, some of these mobile groups are made up of female volunteers.

However, journalists noted that in the last few months, enemy drones began to fly at high altitudes and descend only in front of the target.

“The drones have changed their tactics and fly over Ukraine at an altitude of 2 km, and often 4-5 km. This is done in order to avoid being hit by mobile fire groups,” noted analyst Serhii Flesh on the Telegram channel.

The publication noted that Ukraine is saving the Patriot and Iris missiles for ballistic missiles, not for drones, and this forced it to change its tactics. In particular, the Air Force has become a key player in the fight against drones. The journalists noted that the videos show Ukrainian helicopters shooting down the “shahedis”, and this now seems to be a standard tactic. High-flying drones are detected by air defense radar, and a Mi-8 helicopter can fly nearby while the onboard gunner fires at it with a machine gun. Mi-24 helicopters are also used for this purpose, shooting down drones with their 23mm cannon.

“This tactic proved to be successful. The August report indicated that the rate of destruction of “shaheed” increased to 91% in the last six months compared to 80% in the previous six months,” the publication said.

At the same time, alternative ways to deal with these drones also work, even when they are not shot down. “Recently, there has been an increase in the number of “shaheeds” who have strayed from the trajectory and not only do not hit their targets, but also do not reach the country they were launched into,” the journalists noted.

In particular, on the night of September 11, three “martyrs” made a loop and returned to the Russian Federation. In addition, several drones entered Belarusian airspace in August, where some of them were intercepted by fighter jets. At least one Shahed flew over the territory of Poland on August 26. On September 7, Romania raised fighter jets as Shahed crossed the border. On September 9, Latvia confirmed that a Russian drone crashed on its territory.

Iranian “martyrs”

Attack drones of the Shahed-136 type are an Iranian development. The Russian Federation initially imported ready-made drones from Iran. Later, drone parts were supplied by Iran and assembled in Russia, now they are manufactured under license at a giant plant in Alabuz. Shahed-136 has a characteristic sound that gave it the nickname “moped”.

(C)UNIAN 2024