Russia would have ordered from Iran around 2,000 drones including loitering munitions.

According to a report of the U.S Congress published on November 4, 2022, Russia would have ordered around 2,000 UAVs (Unmanned aerial Vehicles) including Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 from Iran which are now used to strike cities and military targets in Ukraine. At the same, United States intelligence services think that Iran could supply Russia with missiles
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands beside a downed Shahed suicide drone. (Picture source Office of the President of Ukraine)

Citing the U.S. Congress report, in July 2022, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated, “our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs.” In late August, US Newspaper reported that Russia has taken delivery of a large number of drones produced in Iran.

In October 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced that Russia has ordered around 2,000 drones, which are now used in the War in Ukraine including Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 loitering munitions or suicide drones. Since the beginning of the conflict, Iran has always denied the delivery of military equipment to Russia, but on October 19, 2022, Iran admitted to delivering drones to Russia and could supply a batch of medium-range missiles, as well as large numbers of new drones.

On November 8, 2022, the Ukrainian army on its Facebook account published a picture showing a captured Iranian-made Mohajer-6 that was used by the Russian armed forces to conduct reconnaissance missions.

Citing U.S. military analysts, Russia uses now Iranian drones due to the lack of stock of long-range missiles after the numerous strikes s against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure targets. Another advantage is the cost, indeed, a cruise missile costs several million Euros each while an Iranian drone is estimated from 20,000 to 50,000 Euros.

Their relatively low cost and ease of replacement provide Russia with the capability to use swarms of drones to attack targets and overwhelm air defenses. Iranian drones also cost less than Ukraine’s air defense missiles.

The Shahed-136 is an Iranian-made loitering ammunition also called suicide or kamikaze drone developed and manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA).

The nose section of the Shahed-136 contains a high explosive fragmentation warhead estimated to weigh 30–50 kilograms of unknown composition as well as optics for precision attacks. It has a simple inertial navigation system with a consumer-grade GPS system to strike its target. The payload can also include photo equipment that can take still and real-time images or videos.

The Shahed-131 Iranian Kamikaze Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an earlier version of Shahed-136, but with a similar principle of operation and, most likely, maximally unified in all main components, primarily electronics. The layout and aerodynamic solution are also identical.

The Mohajer-6 is an Iranian single-engine multi-role drone capable of carrying a multispectral surveillance payload and/or up to four precision-guided munitions.