Monday 17 October 2022

How to deal with Iran's kamikaze armed drones?

The Iranian-made Shahed-136 armed rones currently being launched against Ukraine gives Russian troops four advantages: they are small, hardly visible on radar, can be fired from a long distance, fly low and are therefore more difficult to detect and, with an 88lb explosive warhead, pack a considerable punch. However, they are not sophisticated weapons.They have no precision-guided systems on board. They are believed to have only commercial-class satellite navigation. The Shahed-136 has the ability to loiter over a target but can only hit stationary objects. So, provided Ukraine has the appropriate detection capabilities, they can be shot down with basic anti-defence systems. The Ukrainian military has already achieved a number of successful hits with their Soviet-built radar-guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka anti-aircraft system which has four 23mm auto-cannons. However, the new challenge comes from what are commonly called drone-swarm attacks where a target is struck with dozens of low-level kamikaze (no going back) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Those which get through air defences can deliver multiples of 88lb “bombs” on selected large civilian or military targets, creating terror as well as destruction. Nato members and other countries are rushing to provide anti-air systems that will help Ukraine to confront the swarm-drone threat. Sophisticated systems, such as the US Patriot anti-missile weapon, are not the answer. They are exclusively designed to shoot down ballistic missiles. What Ukraine needs are more advanced systems developed to combat the growing use of armed drones on the battlefield as well as for wider aerial threats posed by fighter aircraft, bombers and cruise missiles This is where the American NASAMS weapon (national advanced surface-to--air missile system) should be able to play a significant role in protecting Ukrainian cities from the Iranian kamikaze drones. NASAMS are already deployed in the US and a number of other countries for homeland defence. The Pentagon is sending two of the systems and is accelerating their delivery to help against the kamikaze drones The UK is supplying AMRAAM (advanced medium-range air-to-air missile) rockets which can be used with the NASAMS air defence system. One question is whether Israel will officially help in supplying anti-drone weapons to Ukraine. Israel has led the way in designing special systems for this threat and has them deployed along its borders with Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. It has been reported that an Israeli defence contractor has sent such systems to Poland and they may have been transferred to Ukraine. The Israeli government has so far refused to sell advanced arms to Ukraine.

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