Captain Khrolenko explained how the Iranian "Shahids" will help the fight against HIMARS in the Donbass
The armies of the DPR and LPR may have Iranian shock heavy drones Shahed-129 with powerful missile and bomb weapons. There is no official confirmation of such deliveries, but this was reported by a number of Western media. "Newspaper.Ru" dealt with military experts in the potential of the Shahed-129 and the possibility of their use in Ukraine.
"We have information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including Shahed-129 attack drones. Subsequently, they may end up with the Donbass separatists," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN.
Also, the story that Shahed-129 can be placed at the disposal of the DPR and LPR was shown by the French TV channel TF1.
Iran has noticeably succeeded in creating and developing combat drones, of which there are 8 different modifications. The Shahed-129 UAV is considered one of the best. In addition, he received real combat experience in Syria and Iraq. This drone is armed with high-precision planning bombs with a fragmentation warhead Sadid-345 and anti-tank missiles Sadid-1.
"There is no data on such a transaction, and there cannot be, since such transactions are not advertised, at least until the final delivery date. But it is definitely impossible to exclude such deliveries," he told the newspaper.Ru" military expert Sergey Belousov.
In the current version, its length is about 8 m, the wingspan is 16 m, the combat load is 400 kg. The maximum speed is 150 km/ h, the flight duration is 24 hours, and the radius of combat use is 170 km.
"The Iranian Shahed-129 in the case of deliveries of these drones, most likely, will be transferred to the units of the People's Militia of the LPR and the DPR," he told the newspaper.En" military expert, reserve Colonel Gennady Alekhine. - They lack such equipment, the drones currently used are mostly used for reconnaissance purposes, less often as shock, with low-power ammunition. Now only Russian troops have heavy UAVs. If the People's Militia gets its own long-range, powerful and accurate strike drones, then the situation on the front line may change dramatically."
At the same time, the expert stressed that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have no need for Iranian drones - during the special operation, they are successfully used by Russian Pacer UAVs, also known as Orion-10.
With some similarity in characteristics with the Shahed-129, the Russian UAV has great capabilities. Its combat radius is 300 km, speed - 200 km / h, slightly less combat load - 300 kg.
"Again, the Russian army has almost completely abandoned imports and uses almost completely equipment and weapons of domestic production. This is due to the standards imposed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on manufacturers and the possibility of interchangeability of components. In addition, the Russian strike UAV "Pacer" is able to compete with the best world models," Belousov added.
A similar point of view is held by the military observer, captain of the 1st rank of the reserve Alexander Khrolenko.
"The LPR and the DPR can use effective production systems and complexes of friendly countries, including Iran, during a special operation in Ukraine," he told the newspaper.En" Khrolenko. - It is obvious that the massive use of Iranian-made attack drones will increase the offensive potential of the Russian troops and the People's Militia of the Donbass republics. It is not so important in whose possession they will be, the most important thing here is that there will be significantly more attack drones capable of knocking out enemy equipment and weapons."
Khrolenko adds that this is not only "technologically possible and tactically expedient, but also very elegant politically."
- he summarized.
Victor Sokirko
