Production Problems Called Cause Iran to Suspend Supply, Russia Runs Out of Kamikaze Drones

Illustration of the Shahed-136 drone belonging to Iran. (Twitter/@inbarspace)

JAKARTA - Russia has exhausted its stockpile of Iranian-supplied kamikaze drones, after Ukrainian "creativity" overcame them, western officials say.

Russia is said to be using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. Kamikaze drones led to a new bombing campaign in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities when UAVs supplied by Tehran were released in October, flying over urban areas before swooping down and detonating their 40kg warheads.

At the time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Tehran's supply to Moscow as a "collaboration with evil".

But now that collaboration is in doubt after officials confirmed Iran had temporarily halted exports of the drones following production issues, as well as the need to retain them for its own operations.

"We have been told they have run out, but Russia is anticipating a resupply," the official said, citing The National News, December 6.

"That is something that concerns us and something we are monitoring very closely," the official continued.

Shahed-136 is a long-range unmanned aerial vehicle that can engage targets over 2.000 km away. It is driven by a propeller, giving it a low speed of around 185kph, with GPS guidance to keep it accurate.

However, it is estimated that these two features also make it vulnerable to ground fire and electronic jamming. Footage taken by Ukrainian troops has shown a German-supplied Gepard anti-aircraft tank defeating what appeared to be a drone using one-second bursts from its twin 35mm cannons.

Asked by The National how effective the Shaheds drones were the official praised Ukraine's ability to adapt their air defenses.

"In terms of effectiveness, while drones definitely create a new dimension and provide Russia with additional capabilities, we don't think they are very effective," he said.

"Ukraine is quite creative about how they organize themselves to beat them," he continued.

He added that the issue of Iranian production was a "consideration" in scarcity, and the regime "want to think carefully about what it does."

"There will also be deeper conversations about what arrangements Iran and Russia will make. How far Iran is prepared to go into its own production and supply capabilities will depend on what they think they will get out of their partnership with Russia," he said.

Shahed, which means "martyr" in Persian, is cheap, with a unit cost of around $20,000 per unit. When used in swarms they can overwhelm defenses.

It is estimated that the Ukrainians shot down more than 75 percent of the kamikaze attacks. But, when they hit the mark, they proved to be destructive and were potentially responsible for the loss of 30 percent of Ukraine's electricity supply.