A YouTube video posted on Saturday showed a recently downed Russian Shahed kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – a drone – brought down somewhere over Ukraine, fitted with a wooden block in place of the usual 30-kilogram (66-pound) explosive warhead. It was fitted with what the military issues website DefenceBlog termed as advanced navigation hardware and a newly developed 16-element antenna.
The website cited Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov, a well-known Ukrainian commentator on electronic warfare (EW) and drone technology, giving his views on the likely purpose of the modified drone.
He suggested that the antenna was intended to overcome Ukrainian EW defenses which, since late last year, have been highly successful in disrupting the Shaheds’ navigational systems, sending a third or more of those launched against Ukraine off-course.
“The most likely explanation is that the warhead was replaced with a wooden block to reduce weight, allowing for extended flight time,” Beskrestnov said. “This would enable it to fly across Ukrainian airspace and collect data on how the new antenna performs against electronic countermeasures.”
In a YouTube interview with Ukraine’s Alpha Media at the beginning of March, Beskrestnov spoke about the need for Ukraine to strengthen its EW capabilities against an ever-growing threat from Russia, specifically mentioning the threat from Shahed and missile attacks. He suggested that Ukraine currently only held about a third of the EW resources it needed.
“The most likely explanation for replacing the warhead with a wooden block was to reduce weight and thereby extending its flight time,” Beskrestnov said. “This would enable it to fly further across Ukrainian airspace and collect data on how the new antenna performs against electronic countermeasures.”
This was another example of Russian forces introducing and testing new weapons and tactics in actual combat situations.
The presence of an inert warhead and previously unseen sophisticated electronics, strongly suggests that the drone was purely intended for reconnaissance and systems evaluation while “hidden” among a swarm of armed attack drones launched against Ukraine.
Russia continues to rely heavily on Shahed-series drones for its ongoing campaign of long-range strikes, but its success rate has fallen off in recent months through Ukraine’s combination of air defenses and EW jamming.
The modifications seen in this drone, as well as changes in the tactics used, sees Moscow attempting to increase the weapon’s survivability and therefore mission success.