According to reports, when deployed extensively, Iran’s suicide drone turned into Russia’s game-changing weapon. Many commentators think that this kind of UAV is seriously affecting the psychological well-being of Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukraine’s forces suffered a severe “psychological damage” as a result of Russia’s use of suicide drones in combat. The aforementioned remark was made by Newsweek analyst Brendan Cole. The Shahed-136 suicide drone, often referred to as the Geran-2, has lately been used by the Russian military in combat operations, and it is a highly effective weapon. According to Marina Miron, a specialist at King’s College London’s Department of Defense Studies, this surprises the Ukrainian Army, which has been unable to successfully repel air raids for more than a month.
“The Russians have created a huge opportunity for themselves by actively changing their attack strategies with these drones.” “The Ukrainian side did not expect them,” Marina Miron said. The first Geran-2 suicide drone attack occurred on September 13, 2022 near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, and they later appeared in other regions of Ukraine. The wingspan of this drone is about 2.5 m, with the warhead located in the nose. According to the analyst, the suicide drone is extremely difficult to track with radar, because it flies so low.
Another feature of this suicide drone is that it is launched from the phone’s settings. This feature allows the operator to quickly exit the firing position. According to Austin Warnick, an analyst with the firm Flashpoint, the Russian military originally utilised suicide drones to kill Ukrainian armoured vehicles and artillery. But then the tactics shifted, and the drones began striking infrastructure. The image of Geran-2 running at objects in the city swiftly spread on social media and in the media.
Ukrainian military are attempting to shoot down Geran-2 with anything they have available, according to expert Austin Warnick, who added that “now, these drones have been able to strike a major psychological blow to Ukrainian soldiers and effectively back Russia in the battle.” Both regular infantry guns and anti-aircraft weapons were employed. Such measures have a very low rate of success while costing Ukraine a lot of ammo. “Ukrainian soldiers try to shoot at these drones with small guns because they fly slowly and at a low altitude. So they fire a lot of rounds at them simply to try to hit one of them.
The analyst stated, “With what transpired, the aforementioned suicide drones not only increased Russia’s armament but also significantly impacted Ukraine’s weaponry.
