The war between Israel, Iran and the United States has entered a new phase of military escalation marked by bombings, cross attacks and growing tension throughout the Middle East. In recent days, Iranian bombings have once again shaken several Gulf countries while Israel prepares new offensives, in a conflict that threatens to spread throughout the region.
But beyond the military movements on the ground, the war is also revealing a new logic of war based on economics. While Washington and its allies turn to defense systems and missiles that can cost thousands of dollars per unit, Tehran is betting on much cheaper weapons capable of overwhelming those defenses. Therefore, at the center of this strategy are the low cost iranian dronesdesigned to be launched in large quantities and put the defensive shields of the countries involved to the limit.
Among them stands out a model that has become one of the symbols of this new form of combat: the Shahed-136, a relatively cheap kamikaze drone that Iran uses to attack targets at long range and saturate enemy defenses.
Features of Shahed drones
The Shahed drones are of Iranian origin, they are developed by the company Shahed Aviation Industries, they weigh 200 kilos, have a length of 3.5 meters, have a wingspan of 2.5 meters, are thrown from a traileruse a rocket booster to ‘take off’, introduce a centralized fuselage, can neutralize ground targets from a long distance and, according to the specialized portal NDTV Worldhave an estimated cost of between 20,000 and 50,000 dollars (equivalent to 17,000 and 43,000 euros, approximately).
Once in the air, thanks to the integrated combustion engine, Shashed drones can reach a maximum speed of 185 kilometers per hour and a range of between 900 and 2,5000 kilometers. In this way, these devices can attack targets individually, and even fire in waves from launch platforms.
On the other hand, regarding the design, these drones have a delta wing shaped appearancehas an explosive warhead on the front, incorporates a optics to calibrate flight directionand integrate the engine in the rear to gain some momentum thanks to a two-bladed propeller.
The latest updates that these drones have received
Russia also uses Shahed drones to attack UkraineIn addition, thanks to the factories that produce these devices, he was able to gradually improve them so that They were able to survive any threat.
The last improvements they introduced were a carbon cover, a resistance to radar detectionthe incorporation of SIM cards to transmit data through mobile networks and the introduction of incendiary and fragmentation warheads to start fires. Therefore, thanks to these upgrades, Shahed drones increased their combat effectiveness, expanded their range, and increased their survival rate.
