Russia arms Shaheds with new 90 kg warheads – Defense Express reports
Photo: Russia upgraded Shaheds with new 90 kg warheads (Getty Images)
Russian long-range drones Shahed-136 are now equipped with new warheads weighing 90 kg – both of domestic production and of Iranian origin, according to Defense Express.
The agency writes that both versions are significantly more powerful than the standard 50-kilogram munitions, reports Defense Express, citing its own sources and photos.
The new Russian warhead has received the index KOFZBCH – cumulative-fragmentation-high-explosive-incendiary. The explosive substance here is the traditional mix for such warheads – TGF-35P2 (TNT and phlegmatized RDX).
The incendiary effect is provided by a powdered mixture of metal hydrides, capable of producing a combustion temperature of up to 3500 degrees. This allows for simultaneous cumulative fragmentation, high-explosive, and incendiary damage.
Russian forces had previously used similar combined warheads – for example, BST-52 weighing about 50 kg, but the new one is almost twice as heavy.
The Iranian warhead also weighs 90 kg and combines cumulative, fragmentation, and high-explosive effects but without the incendiary effect. It is based on an explosive substance of the OLA type (HMX and aluminum) with an RDX detonator.
This indicates active cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in the production of the Shahed-136, despite the fact that localized drone production has already been established at two Russian enterprises – Alabuga in Tatarstan and Kupol in Izhevsk.
In February, the first photos of a new-series Shahed kamikaze drone marked with the letter “Ъ” appeared. This is already at least the fourth known series of Iranian-Russian Shahed-type kamikaze drones.
