The russian invasion army lost one of its Mohajer-6 type multirole unmanned combat aerial vehicles, board number ER-858, purchased by Moscow from the iranian government. Video shots showing this drone after it crashed, according to the author, in the Kursk Region of russia, were shared by a local Telegram community. The details of this accident are still unknown, and the video has since been deleted.
The footage also shows that the UAV was armed with Ghaem-5 bombs — which iranian media previously claimed could destroy targets at a range of 12–20 km, depending on release altitude — and that there is also an "unknown" type of Ghaem bomb-5 with double the maximum range, up to 40 km.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: Iranian Mohajer-6 Drone Tracks Black Sea
This is the first time the iranian drone Mohajer-6 has hit the news in a while, especially in the context of russians operating it. What makes it a unique episode is that the UAV was used on the land territory of russia, in contrast to the way it was usually deployed earlier — that is, in maritime missions over the Black Sea south of Ukraine. Mohajer-6s conducted reconnaissance and patrol, provided adjust fire for missile strikes on the Ukrainian southwestern coast, and prevented potential attacks on russian ships, as was noted in March this year by the British Defense Intelligence.
As of today, Oryx OSINT community has recorded the loss of two Mohajer-6 drones by the russian forces. The first one was lost back in the fall of 2022, when it was downed by the Ukrainian air defense, fell onto water surface, was collected and then studied in detail by Defense Intelligence of Ukraine — that's technicians found something "unusual" there. The second lost Mohajer-6 was found in the eastern part of Crimea, probably shot down as a result of friendly fire.
Archive video: the Mohajer-6, taken down by Ukrainian air defense, is secured by the marine patrol of Ukraine, September 23, 2022
This time, Mohajer-6 fell far from any water bodies in russia, and here Defense Express can cautiously assume that the russian armed forces probably was planning or already using these drones to support their offensive effort in the Kharkiv region or even to launch strikes on the nearby Sumy region, both located in the northeastern part of Ukraine. Besides being directly involved in launching the bombs it was carrying, it could provide intelligence and surveillance.
Currently, it remains unknown how many Mohajer-6 UCAVs may be in service with the russian invasion forces. A brief reminder, the plans of iran to supply these drones to russia became public in the summer–autumn of 2022.
As previously reported by Defense Express, 75% of components found inside iranian Mohajer-6 drones are of foreign origin: about half of them are made by U.S. companies, and about a third of them are Japanese. There are also components from China, Germany, and even Israel.
Read more: Jackpot From Above: What Secrets are Hiding Inside the Iranian Mohajer-6 Drone
