Shahed 131

Iranian-made drone
Shahed 131
File:Shahed 131 - Recovered fuselage front view.jpg
A Shahed-131 recovered in Ukraine
TypeLoitering munition
Place of origin Iran
Service history
Used bySee Operators
Production history
DesignerShahed Aviation Industries
Specifications
Mass135 kg (298 lb)
Wingspan2.2 m (7.2 ft)
Warhead weight15 kilograms (33 lb)

Operational
range
900 km (559 mi)
Guidance
system
GNSS, INS

Template:Excessive citations The Shahed 131 (Persian: شاهد ۱۳۶, literally "Witness 131"), or Geran-1 (Russian: Герань-1, literally "Geranium-1") in Russian service, is an Iranian-made drone which came to prominence in October 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] It is powered by a Wankel engine model Shahed-783/788.[2] Janes created an in-depth technical summary of the machine.[3]

Design

The Shahed-131 is powered by the Serat-1 Wankel engine, which is a copy of the Beijing Micropilot UAV Control System Ltd MDR-208 Wankel engine.[8][9] An engine of this type was used for the drone in the 2019 Aramco attack in Abqaiq,[9] which was referred to the UN Secretariat as part of the Resolution 2231 2020 investigations.

The Shahed-131 flight control unit was found to be able to connect with Iridium satellites, which in theory allows the flight path to be altered mid flight.[10][11] The flight controller has a backup inertial navigation system by MEMS gyroscope. Its primary instructions are derived from a commercial-grade GPS unit.[11]

Designs for the Kentron ARD-10 loitering drone were sold to Iran Aviation Industries Organization in 2004/5 and used by Shahed Aviation Industries to develop the Shahed 131 and Shahed 136 drones, according to Air Forces Monthly magazine.[12] However a Royal United Services Institute article states the origins of the Shahed 131 are obscure.[13]

It has a 15 kilograms (33 lb) warhead and has a range of 900 kilometres (559 mi).[7][13]

Operational history

It has been alleged the drone was first seen in the Arabian Peninsula when it was used to attack Saudi targets by the Houthi rebels.[5] However The Washington Post reported that other types of drone were used in that attack.[14]

It was used in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,[2] under a Russian name Geran-1.[1] A simplified version is also called Geran-3 where the diesel engine has been replaced with a DLE-60 twin gasoline engine.[15]

Operators

Non-state actors

See also

References

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External links

Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 63: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons

Template:Shahed aircraft