Russians Fit Shahed Drones with R-60 Missile Mock-Ups

Russian invaders have started installing mock-ups of R-60 air-to-air missiles on their Shahed attack drones.

According to Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, advisor to Ukraine’s Defense Minister, the enemy aims to intimidate Ukrainian helicopters and aircraft and draw the attention of drone interceptor operators.

“Army aviation knows how to respond to such things. We also have many interceptor units across different branches and agencies, and, of course, everyone will try to destroy such a ‘valuable’ target,” the advisor said.

Beskrestnov noted that the issue of identifying features to distinguish such Shahed drones with fake missiles is currently relevant.

The first recorded use of R-60 missiles on Russian Shahed-type attack drones in Ukraine was in early December 2025.

Since then, missiles of this class have repeatedly been found in the wreckage of downed drones, including those equipped with jet engines.

The missile, along with the APU-60-1MD launcher, is mounted on a special bracket at the upper front part of the UAV fuselage. This allows the drone not only to carry out strike missions but also to pose a threat to aircraft.”

According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, such drones are equipped with two cameras – one in the nose and one behind the launcher. Video transmission and control commands are carried out via the Chinese mesh modem Xingkay Tech XK-F358.

The flight controller, navigation, and inertial units remain typical of other drone models.

For satellite navigation, a 12-channel anti-jamming module called Kometa is used, allowing operation even under active Ukrainian electronic warfare measures.

The likely method of using the R-60 missile involves sending video from the drone’s cameras to the operator via the mesh modem. If a Ukrainian aircraft or helicopter is detected, the operator issues a launch command.