The pump drone is an old acquaintance in the Ukraine War. Manufactured by Russia under Iranian license with the name of Geran, its use in long -range bombings is daily since the first year of the invasion, in 2022. But it is in this 2025 when it has become the pillar of Russian pressure against the Ukraine rear. Its production is massive today and its technology has taken a leap forward that puts in trouble the Ukrainian defenses. . Its characteristic buzz is even common in the center of kyiv. If they were easily dejected before reaching the periphery of the Ukraine capital and other cities of the rear, they now arrive in tens.
It is one of the most discussed topics in the Ukrainian media and in their military forums: how to stop the new Shahed? The input problem is the number of units used in a single attack. , president of Ukraine, stressed last week that if in 2024 it was something unheard of that in one day the enemy used more than 100, now it is usual. In the 29 days of June ,. In five early morning more than 400 were used. The intelligence services of the Ministry of Defense Ukraine (GUR) estimate that in one day, the Russian industry is producing 170 drones long -range bomb and the forecast is to raise it to 190.
Russia is manufacturing in three days of 2025 the same amount of Shahed and Garpiya [otro dron con funciones similares] which produced in a month of 2024, according to data from Ukraine and Western military intelligence. This is why Ukrainian long -range drones are pointing to production plants in Russia of these unmanned devices. But the results are not enough, according to June 23 Igor Romanenko, Lieutenant General in the Reserve, in TSN, the main television news of Ukraine: “We do not have enough long -range weapons to destroy the centers of production and storage of drones. If we shoot 50 drones, 10 reach the goal, but do not do much damage to the Russians, they have many production centers.”
Kirilo Budánov, Chief of Gur, advanced on June 7 in the medium of military analysis The War Zone that Russia also produce these drones in North Korean territory.
He went around the world in October 2022 The video of a police officer by going down a Shahed in kyiv with his assault rifle. Today this image would be practically impossible. First because the bombings are now at night. And those first Shahed-136 were slower, flew lower and had a more foreseeable trajectory.
One of the main changes is height: these drones flew to a very low height in the past, to avoid being detected by radars. Russia now chooses to fly more than three kilometers high to leave them out of reach of anti -aircraft machine guns. Not only that, they also change their career during the flight, to confuse anti -aircraft systems and hit the goal from different positions.
The new Shahed are also programmed with artificial intelligence to coordinate their attacks autonomously. The most advanced version does not move with a propeller engine, but with a reactor that multiplies its speed, from 190 kilometers per hour to more than 450. These reaction devices are still minority because they multiply the cost of the drone. It is estimated that the expense to make a basic shahed ranges between 14,500 and 37,500 euros, a disbursement for a long -range weapon much lower than for a missile.
Ukraine does not use missiles to demolish them because of the limited number of this weapons, such as Americans or Germans Iris-T. One of the latest US military aid matches approved by former president Joe Biden were precisely 20,000 missiles specialized in drone demolition. His successor, he stopped his shipment to Ukraine and has destined them to the Middle East.
That they are in the trajectory of the drones, they have a 40% success in the demolition of the Shahed. This was detailed on June 22 the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Sirskii. Despite this, according to SIRSKII, they continue to be the most important piece of anti -aircraft. To improve its effectiveness, the colonel in the Oleg Zhdanov reserve explained on June 24 in TSN that they are necessary greater caliber machine guns. The problem is that there are very few units in the hands of Ukraine and its most effective ammunition is also limited.
A military of the anti -aircraft defenses in Zaporiyia, in southern Ukraine, detailed this week to El País, under the condition of maintaining anonymity, that the best way to reduce the Shahed is with cannons of a caliber greater than 20 millimeters, with detonation of the projectile at a distance, without the need to touch the goal. This caliber can reach a height of two kilometers, according to this military.
Higher caliber anti -aircraft cannons, such as the German Gepard, 35 millimeters of caliber, can reach three kilometers high; and the Soviet Zu-23, more than two kilometers. The Shahed, when they are close to the target, descend at a height of between 1,500 and 500 meters, as explained in its Telegram channel the military analyst Alexander Kovalenko.
Dangerous mission for F-16
SIRSKII also confirmed that combat aircraft such as Americans F-16 or Soviet Mig-29 are being used to intercept drones. These operations, however, are a high risk for. The Ukrainian Air Forces lost precisely an F-16 and their pilot in the early hours of this Sunday. The hunt was operating to reduce the attack with more than 470 drones and 60 missiles fired by Russia.
The priority option for kyiv is to invest in interceptor drones. This was stated by Zelenski on June 21, which established its effectiveness of the Shahed in 70%.
Ukraine, according to its president, has signed with Germany and Canada programs for large -scale production of these interceptor drones. These devices are detonated at a distance when they are close to the Shahed. On bombing nights they can identify themselves because they have a position light. This is, according to the Zaporiyia military, so that the anti -aircraft units recognize them as their own drones.
Another change, according to Zhdanov, is that now his enemy concentrates the attack on a few objectives. Dozens of Shahed rushed over their goal to overflow with anti -aircraft defenses. More than 80% of these drones are shot down, but a few manage to overcome the barrier. The Russian army continues to operate with combined bombings to further saturate the anti -aircraft systems: after several Shahed waves, cruise and ballistic missiles that reach the target area that reach the target coinciding with the drones.
Russia also uses as distraction drones to the Gerber, an unmanned aircraft similar to Shahed, but does not charge explosive and whose only function is to fly and confuse the antiacera. About half of the drones that Russia uses in attacks are these distraction devices.
Another variation in the Shahed is that they are now more lethal. The Ukrainian army has identified an armed shahed with a thermobárica bomb and several with. Zhdanov adds that if they could load 30 kilos of TNT explosive before, they can now take 100 kilos. This causes minor distances, between 700 and 1,000 kilometers, enough to be triggered from Russia or from the occupied territories and reach most of Ukraine.
The ravages in deaths among the civilian population are increasing. The last two great attacks on kyiv left 40 deaths. And on June 24, a bombing in the city of Dnipró and its periphery caused 20 deaths and 300 injured. Russia alleges that these civilian casualties occur because their homes are in the vicinity of military objectives.
