More than 80 of the drones were destroyed by U.S. and European military forces before they reached Israeli airspace on Saturday, according to a statement by U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East.
At 11 feet long and 440 pounds, the Shahed-136 uses a lightweight frame — with the same honeycomb carbon structure as high-speed trains in China — to carry over 100 pounds of explosives toward preprogrammed targets up to 1,500 miles away.
In the growing field of drone warfare, the “size, range, warhead weight and engine” set the Shahed-136 apart, according to Fabian Hinz, an Iran analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Berlin.
“The Shahed-131 was first observed in 2014 at an exhibition in Iran,” he said. “Then Iran’s military wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, improved on that design and scaled it up to build the 136.”
These self-detonating drones carry out one-way attacks, delivering small payloads of explosives. Analysts say they are relatively accurate, long-ranged and inexpensive compared to missiles used to shoot them down.
Length: 11 feet
Max. speed:
115 mph
Approx. weight: 440 pounds
Range: About 1,100 – 1,500 miles
Its nose contains a warhead and can be equipped with a camera.
Sources: Defense Express, AeroVironment
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
These self-detonating drones carry out one-way attacks, delivering small payloads of explosives. Analysts say they are relatively accurate, long-ranged and inexpensive compared to missiles used to shoot them down.
Length: 11 feet
Max. speed: 115 mph
Approx. weight: 440 pounds
Range: About 1,100 – 1,500 miles
Its nose contains a warhead and can be equipped with a camera.
Sources: Defense Express, AeroVironment
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
The drone employs a satellite guidance system that “you’d expect to be accurate up to roughly five meters [16 feet],” according to Jeremy Binnie, a Middle East analyst for Janes Defense Intelligence. The guidance mechanism, coupled with spoofing-resistant antennae, allows the drone to maintain an accurate flight path far beyond the range of drones controlled using radio signals.
“The Shahed-136’s warhead is said to weigh 50 kg [110 pounds], which doesn’t seem much when you compare it to the smallest standard bomb on a military aircraft, which weighs 500 pounds,” Binnie said. However, “if you can hit the target accurately, you don’t necessarily need a large warhead.”
Pairing relatively lightweight explosives with a commercial satellite guidance system has allowed Iran to produce Shahed-136 drones at an unparalleled low cost.
“They are quite slow and quite noisy, but they are cheap,” Binnie said, estimating that one Shahed-136 drone costs $50,000 to produce. A cruise missile with a similar range typically costs more than $1 million. “If you can get your opponent to use a surface-to-air missile that costs $1 million…
This article was originally published by a www.washingtonpost.com . Read the Original article here. .
