The new Shahed-238 kamikaze jet drone, introduced in Iran last November, has already been used to attack Ukraine. It is much faster than its propeller-powered sibling Shahed-136 – it can reach 500-520 km/h. This year these drones have already been used to attack Ukraine and, of course, they have spiked the curiosity of weapon systems and electronics experts. The Shahed-238 should also be interesting to the experts on international sanctions.
The Shahed-238 is a new Iranian jet-powered drone. It is a type of loitering munition, a cheaper alternative to cruise missiles. Image credit: focus.ua via Wikimedia
Russia is not a high-tech country and so it buys cheap weapons from Iran and North Korea. All these friends are on all Western lists of economic sanctions. You should not think that Shahed-238 is a particularly advanced high-tech weapon. It is simply a cheaper alternative to cruise missiles. But it still needs quality tech to function at all.
Yes, the jet engine runs hotter, so it should theoretically be easier for IR-seeking missiles to spot the Shahed-238 than the propeller-powered Shahed-136. Air defence missiles, including MANPADS, can easily shoot down a jet drone. In addition, it is speculated that the Shahed-238 doesn’t have as long of a range as its simpler sibling and it is inevitably much more expensive to produce. But it will still cause problems for Ukraine.
The defenders of Ukraine shoot down many cheap Shahed-136s with anti-aircraft machine guns – the jet-powered Shahed-238 may be too fast for that. They may have to waste valuable missile air defence resources, which are very limited. And that is exactly what Russia wants – to exhaust, weaken Ukraine’s air defence capabilities and prevent Ukraine from devoting its best air defence systems to cover the frontlines. If Ukraine uses its best air defence systems to defend Kyiv, they cannot push them closer to the border regions or the frontlines.
Ukraine has already shot down several Shahed-238 jet drones, collected their debris and analyzed it. The results of that analysis are published by Defense Express, but in a simplified picture they look like this:
👀 “Shahed-238”:
🇨🇿 Turbojet engine: PBS Velká Bíteš;
🇨🇦 Satellite navigation signals, block by Tallysman;
🇺🇸 Satellite navigation: Analog Devices and Intel;
🇨🇭 Inertial navigation: STMicroelectronics (Switzerland) and Analog Devices (USA).
🇺🇸 Microprocessor: Texas Instruments. pic.twitter.com/ak5Y5Jy5kA— MAKS 23 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) February 7, 2024
The Shahed-238 uses a turbojet engine TJ150 from a Czech company Velká Bíteš. The drone’s navigation system relies on a four-antenna array TW1721 manufactured by Canada’s Tallysman. The satellite navigation signal is processed by chips from the US companies Analog Devices and Intel. Products of the Swiss company STMicroelectronics take care of inertial navigation. Components of other Western companies were also found in the Shahed-238 drone.
How did this happen? All those components are readily available in the civilian market. You can go online and buy some of them. These components shall not enter Iran because of sanctions, but it is easy to come up with something through third-party companies. Maybe Iranian tourists bring something home too – who knows? The fact is that Russia is attacking Ukrainian cities with Iranian drones made from Western components – that world is so small and the sanctions in it are so small.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: Defence-ua.com, Wikipedia
