The russian invasion forces keep improving and expanding the arsenal of Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones they use for coordinated long-range attacks on Ukraine. During such an attack on January 18th, 2025, Ukrainian air defense units shot down yet another variant of this drone, as the previously unseen markings on its airframe tell.
In a photo that sources provided to Defense Express, this drone is marked as Ъ-series*, and the serial number exceeds 200, indicating the quantity of same-type units produced before this particular sample. There is no additional information about this new variety.
Read more: Ukrainian Reconnaissance Unit Strikes russian Artillery with the Darts and Babay-Heavy Drones (Video)
Currently, most of the Shahed drones russia sends into Ukraine are marked as the Ы-series (Y). As of late December, one of those had serial number "Ы 11934," suggesting that russia might have achieved monthly production of 2,000 Shaheds, and had made about 10,000 in 2024.
That is, if the russians don't manipulate these numbers. The most recently identified Shahed that fell in Romania was numbered "Ы 13822."
The discovery of Ъ-series marks the fourth known variant of the Shahed-136/131. The prior versions include the M-series, later followed by modernized Ы (Y) and K models, the latter being significantly different on the inside, with many components manufactured in russia — not brought ready-made from iran. What kind of modifications were done to the Ъ version is unknown so far.
Generally, the russian military industry has introduced a number of improvements across all series since their first arrival in the Ukrainian warzone. Since the fall of 2024, for example, russians started to systematically equip the Shaheds with thermobaric warheads, Starlink terminals, updated the satellite navigation module, etc.
*Defense Express memo: the Ъ, or the hard sign, is a non-translatable letter with no phonetic representation, much like an apostrophe.
Read more: Serial Numbers of Shaheds Have Reached Nearly 12,000: About 10,000 Produced in russia Over the Year
