Shahed-236 demonstrated for the first time in Russia

Russia has demonstrated for the first time a new Iranian Shahed-236 loitering munitions with an optical guidance system.

Footage of the drone was published by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on 19 September.

During a visit to the Special Technology Centre in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown new developments and existing Russian-made unmanned systems, such as the Zala Lancet and Orlan-10.

In particular, cameramen captured a black drone similar to the well-known Shahed-136 attack drone, but with a modified nose, which appears to have an optical system.

The Shahed-236, a promising Iranian strike drone, has a similar design, which, thanks to an optical station, is capable of autonomous target search and manual guidance by its operator.

At the beginning of the year, Militarnyi published a large-scale analysis of leaked files concerning technology transfer and drone trade between Russia and Iran. The files included, among other things, the intention to localize the production of a new product in Russia.

The drone was codenamed MC-236 in the published documents. It stated that the drone “with a target acquisition system and an internal combustion engine” had successfully taken off at night, had covered the distance to the target in accordance with the flight mission and had hit the target.

During the flight, an operator of the unmanned system chose one of four targets online (the targets were containers measuring 6×3 meters). The homing head successfully captured the target as directed by the operator. The target was hit with an approximate accuracy of 3-5 meters.

One of the presentations demonstrated the principle of using an unmanned system, which, in addition to the Shahed-236 itself, also includes a similar drone repeater and a control station. The specified range of such a system was 220 kilometers.

At the same time, the main technical characteristics of the new drone remain similar to the original “blind” Shahed-136. Without communication, it can fly about 2,000 kilometers and carry a warhead weighing up to 50 kilograms.

Like its predecessor, it is equipped with an internal combustion engine that drives a propeller.

Records also mentioned the estimated cost of the drone (probably for the Russian Federation), which was about $900,000.This price is obviously overstated by several times, given that in 2022, such a Shahed-136 cost the Russians $193,000. This may be due to the associated costs of localisation or licensed production.

Earlier, the Iranian military released footage of a Shahed drone with an optical guidance system.