War in Ukraine: Russia increasingly uses self-destructive fears

Most of the time they come at night. Residents of Ukraine's cities regularly hear the attacks of self - destructive Russian fears. This at a time when the term is in fact incorrect: self - destructive attacks, known as suicide attacks, were attacks by young Japanese pilots who crashed with their planes on opposing ships in order to inflict more damage. The death of the pilot was part of the concept. But there are no pilots. It may even be spoken of in a single way because drones are destroyed during the attack, unlike Turkish Bayraktar fears, for example, which returns from bombing and detection flights.

The self-destructive Droni used in Ukraine is usually an Iranian combat threat Shahed-136, though Russia and Iran have so far denied its acquisition. Checked-136 is about 3.5m long and has delta wings with a space of about 2.5m. It can hold about 50 kilos of explosives. Drone is driven by a heat thruster in the back with a gasoline engine. So it is noisy and its speed of less than 200 km/h is quite low. However, its range of action is estimated in 2,000km. Even if these are data from their Iranian producers and the ray of shock to be in reality slightly lower, compared to other self-destructive fears it is extremely high. From Russia, Shahed-136 could reach any city in Ukraine.

Checked-136, however, has been built very simply. Unlike U.S. drones Switchblade, for example, the Schahedi sets a goal in advance, which must be fixed, and fear then moves automatically toward it. Since the assignment of the target, it can no longer be affected.

Self-destructive Drons are also called “arm of sorratory” (playing vessels). Unlike the Shaheds, other systems such as Switchblade first hover over an area of intervention before a ground operator assigns data to a target that can be even mobile. The tree flies to that target, destroying itself.

A difficult decision to make: Is it worth the fall?

Checked has no chance against modern air defense systems. In the opinion of military experts, fears are not appropriate even to be used at the front. But this does not seem to be the goal of the Russian Army in the war in Ukraine. The tactic of the use of fears is apparently different: the goal is to hit civilian targets such as supply installations and residences and spread terror to the population.

Since fear is relatively cheap, at a price of around 20,000 US dollars per piece and its components can easily be found to be purchased, defenders often face a difficult decision if modern air shells are worth using against them, when each of them can cost several times the price of self - injury. How much more so when Russia often uses whole chess colonies in Ukraine, some of which are certainly captured, but others reach their goal. In addition, drone protection mobilised Ukrainian military and air defence forces throughout the country, which are then missing from front lines. This too appears to be a Russian count.

Western military experts also assume self-destructive fears are being used to replace the cruise heads-up missiles, also much more expensive, which are apparently starting to end in Russia.

Simple and self - destructive stones play virtually no role in the field of battle. But Russia has obviously also focused on their psychological effect - demoralizing the civilian population. / DW