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Iranian-made drones are a headache for Ukraine's Air Force – spokesman

Sunday, 11 June 2023, 10:28
Iranian-made drones are a headache for Ukraine's Air Force – spokesman

The Iranian-made drones deployed by Russia to attack Ukraine are continuing to cause problems for Ukraine’s Air Force.

Source: Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from Ihnat: "Iranian-made drones are a real headache. It’s still very difficult to down them.

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When lots of them have been launched, they all fly along different routes, staying close to the ground, so that it’s difficult to shoot them from a plane. The drone’s speed is 150 km/h, while a fighter jet flies at a minimum of 400 km/h. [...]

And we can’t get those drones during the night using ground forces’ air defence equipment or mobile firing groups, either."

Details: Ihat said that Russia deliberately deploys these drones at night to wear down Ukrainian air defence – in particular, so that Ukraine’s defence forces expend anti-aircraft missiles to down those drones.

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This allows Russian forces to determine where Ukrainian air defence systems are located, and take that into account during air-to-surface or naval-based missile strikes.

Read also: Spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force: If we had surrendered the sky, the entire country would look like Mariupol or Bakhmut

Background: Ukrainian air defence forces shot down six Iranian-made Shahed drones on the night of 10–11 June. It is unclear how many drones Russia launched.

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