The UK Ministry of Defense devoted a report to Russia's modifications of Shahed attack drones, indicating that Russia is almost certainly trying to improve the UAV's design. British intelligence mentioned the use of a Ukrainian SIM card and 4G modem by the Russians, as well as the painting of the drones in black, UNN reports.
Details
"Since mid-2023, Russia has almost certainly supplemented the Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles supplied by Iran with similar weapons manufactured at factories in Russia. Now, Russia is almost certainly trying to improve the UAV designs based on operational experience," the British Ministry of Defense report says.
British intelligence notes that at the end of November 2023, it was reported that the downed UAV was equipped with a Ukrainian SIM card and a 4G modem. "This is likely to be a Russian improvised modification to improve real-time targeting using cell towers to reduce reliance on satellite navigation," the report said.
"There is a real possibility that it is trying to mitigate Ukrainian electronic warfare measures," the British Defense Ministry said.
It is also noted that "some other Russian-made UAVs are likely to be black in color, making it difficult to visually recognize approaching drones at night."
"russia is increasingly using UAVs in large-scale raids in an attempt to overcome ukrainian air defense. However, Ukraine continues to successfully neutralize most of the weapons that are launched," the British intelligence service emphasized.
To recap,
KFI experts are already investigating the black "chessmen" that the enemy has recently used to attack Ukraine.