UK Intelligence: Russia began to use Shahed of its own production

Russia has almost certainly started to deploy domestically produced one way attack Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (OWA-UAVs) based on Iranian Shahed designs.

Russian forces have been importing Iranian-made systems since September 2022, Caliber.Az reports referring to the Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine, which is published by the UK Defence Ministry on August 16.

Indigenous manufacturing will likely allow Russia to establish a more reliable supply of OWA-UAVs. The performance of these weapons has been variable and Ukraine has proved effective in neutralising the majority of incoming OWA-UAVs.

Russia likely aims for self-sufficiency in OWA-UAVs in the coming months. However, in the interim, Russia remains reliant on components and whole weapons from Iran, primarily shipped via the Caspian Sea.