July 29, 2025, 9:07 pm
Russia is using the relatively cheap Iranian Shahid drones to hit civilian as well as military targets in Ukraine.
The Shahed-136 drones that Russia has rebranded as Geran-2 are packed with explosives and are preprogrammed to loiter overhead until they nosedive into a target.
Its 50-horsepower engine gives it a top speed of 185 kph or 114 mph and a maximum range of 2,500 kilometers or 1,500 miles.
On July 20th, Russian state television aired new footage from the massive drone manufacturing facility in Alabuga, located about a thousand miles east of Moscow. The plant, which produces Shahed-136 drones, has dramatically scaled up operations over the past year—reportedly increasing output nearly tenfold. This surge in production now enables Russia to potentially launch over 700 attack drones in a single night. According to Major General Christian Freuding of Germany’s Situation Center for Ukraine, that number could climb to as many as 2,000 Shaheds per night by the end of the year.
Shahed-136 has been so impactful that even President Donald Trump commented on it.
He said, “We’re coming up with a new system of drones because drones are really … drones really seem to be taking over that war… I asked one of the companies, I said, I want a lot of drones, and in the case of Iran, they make a good drone and they make them for $35,000, $40,000.”
US military may soon have an answer.
On July 16, the U.S. Department of Defense unveiled the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) during a showcase of autonomous systems held in the Pentagon courtyard. The event was attended by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how LUCAS could enable the US military to win the drone war ?
#defenseupdates #LUCAS #usmilitary
Chapters:
0:00 TITLE
00:11 INTRODUCTION
02:12 SPONSORSHIP – NordVPN
02:46 LUCAS OVERVIEW
04:08 LUCAS IN BATTLEZONE
06:09 ANALYSIS
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