New Iranian Shaheds: an aviation expert explained how threatening they are

Has three different guidance systems / 24 Channel Collage / Screenshot from video

Recently, Iranian media released footage of new black drones. They may be more difficult to detect by air defense forces.

We are talking about the Shahed-238 jet attack UAV, which is a modification of the Shahed-136 drone. Aviation expert Konstantin Krivolap explained to Channel 24 what the complexity of this drone is.

What is known about the new Iranian “Shaheds”

According to an aviation expert, the modified drones have 3 different guidance systems:

1. autonomous, based on the inertial system and GPS signals;
2. radar, to neutralize and break through enemy air defense systems;
3. infrared, which can be used to destroy heat-contrasting targets, in particular, important military equipment behind enemy lines.

The fact that they were able to install a radar station could really become a threat to the air defense system,” Krivolap emphasized.

Also in Iran they plan to install a gas turbine engine in UAVs, even despite their small dimensions, it is uneconomical, ineffective and difficult to produce. Therefore, the drone is unlikely to pose a threat.

What features does the new Iranian “Shahed” have: watch the video

Krivolap questioned that the new “Shaheds” will soon end up in Russia and begin to use them against Ukraine. Because the components and fuselages that Iran had previously sent to Moscow were broken and the Russians did not have time to follow the Shahed production plan. Therefore, it is unknown what will happen this time.

What is known about the new Iranian “Shaheds”

• The new UAV was presented by Iran's Ashoura University of Aerospace Sciences and Technology during a visit to the institution by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
• Speaker of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat said that the work of air defense can be complicated by the black coloring of this drone. That is, the new drone may be less visible to radar. It is not yet known whether Russia will purchase these Shaheds. Ignat assured that the Ukrainian military will “find a way out of such difficult decisions.”
• There is also a version that engineering and technical personnel of the Russian military-industrial complex worked together with Iran on the development of Shahed-238. In addition, today the threat is not only Iran’s supply of new Russian drones. But also the fact that Tehran and Moscow have combined their scientific and technical potential, so they can still modernize something.