It seems that when it comes to Russia’s current weaponry build standard, as its war in Ukraine nears its third anniversary, is based on Joseph Stalin’s dictum that “Quantity has a quality of its own.” As a report by the German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) a week or so ago makes clear, that certainly seems to apply to Moscow’s domestically built version of Iran’s Shahed long-range attack drones.
An article published on the DW Ukrainian YouTube channel examines the efforts made by Ukraine’s mobile fire groups to combat the threat from Russian attack drones it also looks at how Russia’s efforts to mass produce the drones, have seriously eroded the quality of these systems because of supply shortages and its cost-cutting measures.
This view was put forward by Andriy Kulchytsky, head of the military laboratory of Kyiv’s forensic research institute. Illustrating his point with drones recovered during attacks against Ukraine he said that in Russia’s efforts to set up large-scale domestic production of Shahed drones which has included modifications to the original design, some forced on them, others in attempts at cost reduction, these changes have come at an operational cost.
“The Russians have adapted these drones to their needs, but due to a lack of components and efforts to reduce costs, their quality has declined,” Kulchytsky said.
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In the DW video, he points out how the earlier Iranian-manufactured Shaheds consisted of superior fuselage material, and contained several foreign-made components, which are no longer available, with many of their locally sourced replacements being considerably inferior to those previously used.
Kulchytsky described what he had found while examining the engine from a recently recovered drone:
“This is the engine from a drone that hit a residential building in Kyiv,” he said.
“It’s evident that with the mass production of drones, Russia is increasingly facing a shortage of parts. There’s no flywheel, no starter. Instead, there are rough cuts and bolts. The drones are manually launched and designed for mass use. If it flies, it flies.”
Kulchytsky and his team are not just interested in examining the drones from a technical point of view, they are also identifying those foreign components that are still finding their way into the Russian supply chain and sharing their findings with their Western partners. It is considered that much of the deterioration in the quality and performance of the Russian drones has been the effectiveness of sanctions that have restricted the supply of high-tech components – but there is still more that can be achieved.
While many analysts see the upsurge in the numbers of Shahed drones being used against Ukraine as an attempt to swamp its air defenses at least part of that increase may simply be down to the fact that as the efficiency and reliability of its drones have fallen Moscow hopes that at least some of them will achieve their intended goal.
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