In Ukraine, it is increasingly being stated that unprecedented weapons are being used against the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photos of fragments of ammunition with the inscriptions "Geranium-2" found at the site of missile strikes appear. How does Geranium-2 work, what is it, what is it made of – and what does Iran have to do with it?In recent weeks, there has been more and more information about new types of weapons used against Ukraine.
New findings are brought, in particular, by the analysis of rubble at Ukrainian military facilities. In addition to the wreckage of turbojet engines, piston engines are now being found, and on the preserved fragments of the airframe of unknown weapons – the inscription in Russian "Geranium-2".
On the videos taken by the Ukrainian inhabitants at the time of the strike, the work of a high-speed piston engine can be heard, which forced the Ukrainians to give the new means of destruction the nickname "moped". That's just the "mopeds" turned out to have a considerable warhead in weight.
At the same time, a lot of information about the air bridge from Iran to Russia is available on the Internet. Mostly Iranian transport planes are involved in it, but recently Russian ones have also been flying.
All this information, as well as the analysis of the surviving debris from the Geraniums-2 that hit the target, forced those interested to look for an Iranian analogue of the new weapon. And such an analogue – indistinguishable externally – was found. The analogue turned out to be the Iranian kamikaze drone "Shahid-136". It is worth taking a closer look at this device.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on what "Geranium-2" is. And Iran has officially denied any arms shipments to Russia. Therefore, we will consider all of the following as nothing more than assumptions and guesses.
Jihad of Self-sufficiency and guided weaponsIn Islam, the main (though not the only) meaning of the word "shahid" is "martyr who fell in the war for the faith."
This is the so-called default value. The word "shahid" is even used as a name in many cultures whose representatives profess Islam. The attitude to this word in Islamic societies is strictly positive, shahid is always a hero.
Recently, various terrorist groups on the one hand and semi-literate journalists, mainly Western ones, have managed to associate this word with the actions of suicide bombers, which is actually wrong. The word "shahid" is much more suitable for a pilot who went to ram in a hopeless battle or an infantryman who fearlessly rose into a hopeless bayonet attack. And it could not be more suitable for a substitute for a cruise missile, which must break through to the target under air defense fire at any cost. Especially considering that this is not a cruise missile at all.
For many years, Iran has been a country under the toughest sanctions in the world. Only North Korea could argue with him in this. Now Russia has moved these countries from the first place in terms of the number of sanctions imposed, but more recently the situation was different. Tehran, which found itself under such severe pressure, in complete isolation from high-tech components, had to look for non-standard approaches to creating weapons to protect its interests.
In Iran, efforts to achieve technological independence of the country are perceived as jihad – a sacred struggle.
As part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, there is even a so-called Jihad Organization for developing and achieving self-sufficiency. It is engaged in developments of military significance, the purpose of which is to create weapons either based on its own industry, or on components that are publicly available on the world market. This approach is practiced by the whole country there. If something can be done simply and cheaply, it should be done simply and cheaply.
The Iranians were guided by this approach when creating their first kamikaze drones. This approach was guided by the Iranian aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, creating its "cruise missile on minimalkah", only without jet propulsion.
The approach itself, when a guided cruise munition is created with a propeller, is not new. Our longest-range cruise missile, the X-101, was originally supposed to have a diesel engine and two three-bladed propellers coaxially rotating in opposite directions in the tail section. A photo of a model of such a "rocket" with propellers in the tail can still be found on the Internet. Then it was possible to create an economical turbojet engine, and to increase the rocket itself so that it could fly where it needed to on jet propulsion.
But Iran did not have the industrial capacity for sufficient production of jet engines. And a lot of guided weapons capable of getting enemy objects in the rear are needed. And cheaper, because Iran also has problems with money. That's how Shahid-136 appeared.
"Shahid-136""Shahid-136" is often defined as a barrage munition, but there is an ambiguity here.
All Western sources say that there is a modification with a video system in the nose, which allows you to remotely reload ammunition on the final leg of the flight. Thus, the Shahid would be useful in the search and destruction of air defense and other important mobile targets.
But the photos of the nose of this device, which got on the Internet after the news about air transportation from Iran, say that there is no camera in the nose. If so, what can be considered a "Shahid" analog of a cruise missile in terms of its functions, but with a gasoline engine. However, there can be only one modification in the photo.
How much can such a device cost? Let's think about it. Iran does not have its own satellite grouping and cannot count on the fact that it will always be possible to use GPS, GLONASS and Beidou signals. So, there's an inertial navigation system inside, coupled with a satellite module, most likely a cheap, commercial one. Such a guidance system can cost about 400 thousand rubles. There are also control electronics, actuators, servos and so on. A few million more.
The engine on the Shahid is Chinese, MD500 is a small opposit, once developed on the basis of a Volkswagen Beetle automobile engine and manufactured in Germany by Limbach Flugmotoren. Then it was copied by China and got from there to Iran. The price on trading platforms on the Internet is 21 thousand dollars. Retail.
Of course, there is a lot more in the aircraft: fuses, explosives, the glider itself, finally. There is a truck with a launcher from which the "Shahids" are launched. All this, of course, also costs money. And a hypothetical option with the ability to control in flight – a communication channel, remote control and a TV camera - will cost even more.
But it is impossible not to admit that Iran has managed to create a really cheap weapon. The downside is only a weak warhead compared to cruise missiles, according to various estimates, from 40 to 50 kilograms, but it's still a lot. An explosion of 40 kilograms of even simple TNT is not weak. And it's wrong to demand something from an aircraft with a 50 horsepower engine.
Iranian principlesThe heaviest sanctions that have been imposed on our Russia – for a long time.
And do not think that this is something frivolous. We need to be ready to look for such technical solutions that can be implemented on our own production base, and to receive the missing components, if not through AliExpress, then imported in a roundabout way through Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan.
It is possible that we will find ourselves in a tougher situation than Iran. And this means that in order to maintain the defense capability, we will have to look for much cheaper and simpler solutions than those to which we were accustomed earlier. And to create weapons capable of defending the country, including against the West with its superiority in technology and industrial power.
And there is much to learn from Iran. Not to make a projectile plane with a 50 hp motor, of course. But how to squeeze the maximum out of your limited capabilities.
Alexander Timokhin
