The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the "Components in Weapons" section of the War&Sanctions portal publishes an electronic component database and a 3D model showing the schematic layout of the components of the Shahed-136 (Geran-2) strike UAV of the new MS series.
The drone was shot down by the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the Sumy direction in June this year.
The structure of the fuselage material, design, and layout of electronic units indicate that the UAV is of Iranian manufacture. At the same time, certain modifications and improvements may point to joint work between Russia and Iran on upgrading the Shaheds.
This UAV contains a high-speed Nvidia Jetson Orin mini-computer, specialized for AI tasks and video processing, as well as an infrared camera similar to one previously announced by Russia. Russia uses the Nvidia Jetson Orin in its V2U strike UAV, which we wrote about earlier this month.
The module's purpose is to receive information from the UAV's camera and compare it with loaded models for automatic guidance or target selection. It can also be used as a reconnaissance device.
The Iranian anti-jamming satellite navigation system Nasir has undergone some modernization and has become eight-channel. On the studied sample, the Nasir system was connected to a four-element antenna capable of receiving GPS signals in the L1 and L5 bands.
It is known that antennas with a circular arrangement of eight elements, similar to Chinese ones previously identified in Russian-assembled Shaheds, are also used.
In addition, the new Shahed has a radio modem and a subsystem for transmitting video, telemetry, and/or group control.
Research on this UAV is ongoing, and the results will definitely be published on the portal.
This indicates that technology exchange between Iran and Russia is two-way, and the result of their cooperation could extend far beyond the Russian-Ukrainian war if Iran uses the experience of Russian developments in its destabilizing actions in the Middle East.
