Now that Ukraine’s counter-offensive is in full swing, more and more footage covering the war on the front lines is being released.
And the bad news for Putin: His drones are now hitting decoys set up by Ukraine.
Ukraine War Footage Shows Russian Drone Hitting a ‘Decoy’
Here is what we know so far.
This week, the open-source intelligence group Ukraine Weapons Tracker published a video showing a Russian Lancet loitering munition striking a Ukrainian IRIS-T SLM launcher decoy in Kherson Oblast.
According to the Twitter handle, the vehicle’s incorrect proportions and antenna inconsistencies indicate that the Ukrainian launcher was almost certainly a decoy.
Since the early days of Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian forces have used “stage props” like the launcher that appears in the video to further decrease Moscow’s dwindling weapons stockpile. Since loitering munitions destruct upon striking a target, the Lancet used by Russia in this video has now been taken out of the battlefield without causing any real damage to Ukraine’s assets.
What Are Loitering Munitions or a ‘Kamakaze Drone’?
Also referred to as a suicide or kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), loitering munitions continue to play a massive role for both sides in the ongoing invasion. This kind of aerial weapon is equipped with a built-in warhead that is able to loiter around a target area prior to locating the target and destroying it. Some analysts consider these types of UAVs to be airborne mines. Similar to landmines and naval mines, loitering drones wait passively in an environment and are responsive to specific characteristics they can detect. The “Kamikaze” moniker given to loitering munitions stems from the weapon’s one-time use as once it locates a target it crashes into it.
Drone use in modern warfare became popularized during the 2020 Norgorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan deployed Israeli-designed Harop loitering munitions to overwhelm the Armenian military. Due to the Harop’s success in that conflict, many nations subsequently began building up their own modern loitering UAV arsenals. Russia has turned to its rogue ally Iran in order to secure its own suicide drone fleet to deploy in its Ukraine invasion.
Russia primarily uses Iranian-designed UAVs
Last Spring, Moscow began the process of procuring several Iranian-designed drones, including loitering models. While Tehran initially denied this exchange, scores of evidence now prove that Iranian-made UAVs are frequently used by Russian forces to target Ukraine’s military assets, civilian centers, and energy infrastructure. The most prevalent Iranian drone Moscow has deployed is likely the Shahed-136. This loitering UAV is powered by the Chinese-produced MD550 engine, which is believed to be a reverse-engineered version of a German design. With a range of a few thousand kilometers, the Shahed can easily reach any target in Ukraine after being launched by a catapult system or from pre-filled containers fired off the backs of vehicles using an ejectable rocket assist system.
In addition to deploying Iranian-designed UAVs, Russia has used the indigenously-made ZALA Lancet drone to attack Ukrainian positions. Originally debuted in 2019, the Lancet can be used for both strike and reconnaissance operations. Russian forces used this homegrown loitering munition prior to the invasion during the Syrian civil war. Since February 2022, scores of videos demonstrating the use and destruction of Lancet drones have flooded the internet. With a rapidly diminishing UAV stockpile, Moscow can’t really afford to lose many more of its loitering drones to Ukrainian decoys.
#Ukraine: The “85th IRIS-T destroyed,,,,”- A Russian Lancet loitering munition successfully targeting a Ukrainian IRIS-T SLM launcher decoy in #Kherson Oblast. pic.twitter.com/KT7aVQPBat
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 1, 2023
Maya Carlin, a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
