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Shahed drones
Shahed drones are Iranian unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and loitering munitions (exploding kamikaze drones) developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. Shahed drones are manufactured both in Iran and in Russia, with the Russian variant building upon Iranian plans. Both variants were deployed by Russian forces against Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
"Shahed" literally translates to "witness" in both Persian and Arabic.
Models include the following (in numeric order):
The drones are developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. They are produced using domestic companies and local resources. Despite international sanctions against Iran, claimed to be made of commercial parts from companies headquartered in the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland. Due to their commercial availability, the components are poorly regulated or uncontrolled, and according to a Ukrainian report submitted to the G7, the parts are imported to Iran from Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Costa Rica. Allegedly, every drone manufactory plant in Iran has two replacement sites to ensure production is not disrupted in the event of an aerial attack.
On 5 December 2011, the Iranian government seized an American Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV, which had been commandeered and brought down by Iran's cyberwarfare unit. Shahed Aviation Industries then reverse-engineered the American UAV, and used the acquired knowledge to develop the Shahed 171 Simorgh and Shahed 191 (Shahed Saegheh).
During the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, the United States accused Iran of supplying Russia with drones during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and aiding Russia in the development of a drone production plant. Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi denied the allegations, responding, "We are against the war in Ukraine." Months earlier, Sky News received purported document evidence dated 14 September 2022 from an informed source that Russia had purchased over US$1 million of artillery and tank shells and rockets. In June 2023, a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House reported Iran was supplying Russia with materials to construct a drone manufacturing plant. In February 2024, additional document evidence was leaked revealing Russia's purchases of drones and an arrangement for Iran to assist Russia in developing a manufacturing facility, both purchased for a total of US$1.75 billion, paid in gold ingots.
According to the document submitted to the G7, the Iranian government is trying to "disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons" and that "[it] cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine." Consequently, the Yelabuga drone factory was established in Alabuga Special Economic Zone, part of the Republic of Tatarstan, an autonomous region of Russia, more than 1,300 km (810 mi) from the Russia–Ukraine border. The manufactory is next to the Kama River, permitting transportation by ship directly from Iran via the Caspian Sea, and is operated by the company Albatross, which employs students as young as 15 years-old from Alabuga Polytechnic College to construct the combat drones. Russia aims to build 6,000 UCAVs by summer 2025 at a rate of 310 drones per month if the factory operates 24 hours a day, predicting the cost of production of one Geran-2 to be US$48,000. However, Russia has upgraded the drones over several iterations and has consequently increased the unit production cost to around US$80,000 as of April 2024.
Iranian drone technology was deployed in combat during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia used Iranian Shahed 136 drones in an attack on Kyiv on 17 October 2022, during which 4 civilians were killed, including one woman who was six months pregnant. Another Russian attack using Iranian drones took place on 28 May 2023. Ukraine said it shot down all but one of the drones, but one person was killed. Another strike on 20 June used 35 Iranian-designed Shahed drones, 32 of which were claimed to be shot down by Ukraine. On 22 November 2024, Russia attacked a residential area in Sumy, Ukraine, using Shahed drones. Two civilians were killed in the attack and 12 were injured. On 17 May 2025 Russia conducted multiple attacks across Ukraine involving Shahed drones, killing at least 13 civilians and injuring 32.
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Shahed drones
Shahed drones are Iranian unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and loitering munitions (exploding kamikaze drones) developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. Shahed drones are manufactured both in Iran and in Russia, with the Russian variant building upon Iranian plans. Both variants were deployed by Russian forces against Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
"Shahed" literally translates to "witness" in both Persian and Arabic.
Models include the following (in numeric order):
The drones are developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. They are produced using domestic companies and local resources. Despite international sanctions against Iran, claimed to be made of commercial parts from companies headquartered in the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland. Due to their commercial availability, the components are poorly regulated or uncontrolled, and according to a Ukrainian report submitted to the G7, the parts are imported to Iran from Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Costa Rica. Allegedly, every drone manufactory plant in Iran has two replacement sites to ensure production is not disrupted in the event of an aerial attack.
On 5 December 2011, the Iranian government seized an American Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV, which had been commandeered and brought down by Iran's cyberwarfare unit. Shahed Aviation Industries then reverse-engineered the American UAV, and used the acquired knowledge to develop the Shahed 171 Simorgh and Shahed 191 (Shahed Saegheh).
During the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, the United States accused Iran of supplying Russia with drones during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and aiding Russia in the development of a drone production plant. Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi denied the allegations, responding, "We are against the war in Ukraine." Months earlier, Sky News received purported document evidence dated 14 September 2022 from an informed source that Russia had purchased over US$1 million of artillery and tank shells and rockets. In June 2023, a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House reported Iran was supplying Russia with materials to construct a drone manufacturing plant. In February 2024, additional document evidence was leaked revealing Russia's purchases of drones and an arrangement for Iran to assist Russia in developing a manufacturing facility, both purchased for a total of US$1.75 billion, paid in gold ingots.
According to the document submitted to the G7, the Iranian government is trying to "disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons" and that "[it] cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine." Consequently, the Yelabuga drone factory was established in Alabuga Special Economic Zone, part of the Republic of Tatarstan, an autonomous region of Russia, more than 1,300 km (810 mi) from the Russia–Ukraine border. The manufactory is next to the Kama River, permitting transportation by ship directly from Iran via the Caspian Sea, and is operated by the company Albatross, which employs students as young as 15 years-old from Alabuga Polytechnic College to construct the combat drones. Russia aims to build 6,000 UCAVs by summer 2025 at a rate of 310 drones per month if the factory operates 24 hours a day, predicting the cost of production of one Geran-2 to be US$48,000. However, Russia has upgraded the drones over several iterations and has consequently increased the unit production cost to around US$80,000 as of April 2024.
Iranian drone technology was deployed in combat during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia used Iranian Shahed 136 drones in an attack on Kyiv on 17 October 2022, during which 4 civilians were killed, including one woman who was six months pregnant. Another Russian attack using Iranian drones took place on 28 May 2023. Ukraine said it shot down all but one of the drones, but one person was killed. Another strike on 20 June used 35 Iranian-designed Shahed drones, 32 of which were claimed to be shot down by Ukraine. On 22 November 2024, Russia attacked a residential area in Sumy, Ukraine, using Shahed drones. Two civilians were killed in the attack and 12 were injured. On 17 May 2025 Russia conducted multiple attacks across Ukraine involving Shahed drones, killing at least 13 civilians and injuring 32.