After an experiment with installing an R-60 air-to-air missile on a Shahed-type UAV, the russians went toward mounting a man-portable air defense system on their long-range drone. The goal of this innovation is similar an attempt to counter Ukrainian helicopters and aircraft that are involved in shooting down russian Shaheds.
The shooting down of such a drone was first reported by specialist Serhiy "Flash" Beskrestnov, and later video with this Shahed UAV, which was intercepted by fighters of Darknode battalion of 412th Nemesis brigade, was shown by Unmanned Systems Forces.
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At the same time, attention can be drawn immediately to several things. First, this is the use of Verba MANPADS, which is the newest man-portable air defense system in service with russia.
This is indicated by both the external appearance of the launcher and the index 9P333. And given the marking, this launcher was manufactured in 2025.
Also, to activate the MANPADS, the enemy installed a number of additional systems that should initiate missile launch, namely: turning on the launcher, puncturing the cylinder with compressed nitrogen to cool the infrared seeker and carrying out launch.
And currently this doesn't look like a serial solution, for example, due to the absence of cable management, use of ordinary clamps and open mounting of all additional systems on the body.
Moreover, the very use of Verba MANPADS already indicates this. Because technically the russians have serial solutions in the form of the Strelets kit, which is designed to equip MANPADS for helicopters and any other carriers. In addition, there is a version of Igla-V MANPADS specially created for helicopters.
That is, whoever was involved in integrating Verba MANPADS on Shahed UAV had access to this new system, but not to ready solutions. That's precisely why the developer had to invent launch initiation means that would repeat human actions. Objectively such solutions more resemble garage development, which of course doesn't negate the degree of threat.
Second, it's necessary to pay attention to the main component of this system ensuring Shahed control in online mode. Because the main idea of the russians is that the operator controlling a drone with MANPADS should see a helicopter or aircraft, after which maneuver in such a way that the Verba seeker captures the target in quite limited time of its cooling.
And without a video transmission system from the drone and ensuring its control from the remote, like an FPV drone, this whole idea is absolutely helpless. And currently a known system used by the enemy for such purposes is mesh modems. And that is precisely why fighting this Shahed UAV control channel is a priority.
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