Shahed drones
Shahed drones are Iranian unmanned combat aerial vehicles and loitering munitions developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. Shahed drones are manufactured both in Iran and in Russia, with the Russian variant building upon Iranian plans. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, both variants have been deployed by Russian forces against Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war.
List of models
Models include the following :Development and production
Name
"Shahed" literally translates to "witness" in both Persian and Arabic. It also means "martyr" in Persian.Iran
The drones are developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. They are produced using domestic companies and local resources. Despite international sanctions against Iran, there are claims that components for the drones include commercial parts made by companies headquartered in the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland. Due to their commercial availability, the components are poorly regulated or uncontrolled, and according to a Ukrainian report submitted to the G7, the parts are imported to Iran from Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Costa Rica. Allegedly, every drone manufactory plant in Iran has two replacement sites to ensure production is not disrupted in the event of an aerial attack.On 5 December 2011, the Iranian government seized an American Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV, which had been commandeered and brought down by Iran's cyberwarfare unit. Shahed Aviation Industries then reverse-engineered the American UAV, and used the acquired knowledge to develop the Shahed 171 Simorgh and Shahed 191.
Russia
During the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, the United States accused Iran of supplying Russia with drones during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and aiding Russia in the development of a drone production plant. Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi denied the allegations, responding, "We are against the war in Ukraine." Months earlier, Sky News received purported document evidence dated 14 September 2022 from an informed source that Russia had purchased over million of artillery and tank shells and rockets. In June 2023, a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House reported Iran was supplying Russia with materials to construct a drone manufacturing plant. In February 2024, additional document evidence was leaked revealing Russia's purchases of drones and an arrangement for Iran to assist Russia in developing a manufacturing facility, both purchased for a total of billion, paid in gold ingots.According to the document submitted to the G7, the Iranian government is trying to "disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons" and that " cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine." Consequently, the Yelabuga drone factory was established in Alabuga Special Economic Zone, part of the Republic of Tatarstan, an autonomous region of Russia, more than from the Russia–Ukraine border. The manufactory is next to the Kama River, permitting transportation by ship directly from Iran via the Caspian Sea, and is operated by the company Albatross, which employs students as young as 15 years-old from Alabuga Polytechnic College to construct the combat drones. Russia aims to build 6,000 UCAVs by summer 2025 at a rate of 310 drones per month if the factory operates 24 hours a day, predicting the cost of production of one Geran-2 to be. However, Russia has upgraded the drones over several iterations and has consequently increased the unit production cost to around as of April 2024.
Iranian drone technology was deployed in combat during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia used Iranian Shahed 136 drones in an attack on Kyiv on 17 October 2022, during which 4 civilians were killed, including one woman who was six months pregnant. Another Russian attack using Iranian drones took place on 28 May 2023. Ukraine said it shot down all but one of the drones, but one person was killed. Another strike on 20 June used 35 Iranian-designed Shahed drones, 32 of which were claimed to be shot down by Ukraine. On 22 November 2024, Russia attacked a residential area in Sumy, Ukraine, using Shahed drones. Two civilians were killed in the attack and 12 were injured. On 17 May 2025 Russia conducted multiple attacks across Ukraine involving Shahed drones, killing at least 13 civilians and injuring 32.
In July 2025, there were multiple reports, including a documentary by Russian defense ministry channel Zvezda, indicating that Russia were using children and teenagers to assemble Shahed drones used to attack Ukraine.
Coercion of foreigners for labour
In 2025, open-source investigations and multiple investigative reports found that young women across Africa were being coerced into traveling to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia where they were promised hospitality work or scholarships, but instead are used to assemble Shahed drones, facing danger in harsh conditions as the area is targeted by Ukrainian air strikes. In November 2025, South Africa opened an investigation and issued a warning to its citizens after Russia was accused of making the false promises.The Wall Street Journal reported officials from Uganda saying that more than 1,000 women across Africa had been lured to Alabuga under false pretenses.
Shahed 107
The Shahed 107 was revealed to Sky News by an anonymous security source in January 2024. It was described as a loitering munition with possible reconnaissance technologies, such as a live video feed. The source also reported it is about long and has a wingspan of. The UCAV can be launched from a vehicle and is estimated to have a range of up to. The source also told Sky News that Iran had offered "a few units" to Russia in a deal worth more than million.Shahed 121
The Shahed 121 was first noticed in 2016 when it flew over the, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, in international airspace. The US Navy regarded this as a security breach which had not happened since 2014. The incident occurred after a nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers, including the US. A US Navy Seahawk helicopter filmed the incident. The flight of Shahed 121 was considered by Iranian authorities to be safe as its wings were all "clean", implying that the drone did not carry weapons and was not dangerous to ships, but the high command of the US Navy described it as "abnormal" and "unprofessional."Shahed 129
The Shahed 129, sometimes S129, is an Iranian single-engine medium-altitude long-endurance UCAV designed for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is capable of combat and reconnaissance missions. It has an endurance of 24 hours; it is similar in size, shape, and role to the American MQ-1 Predator. The Shahed 129 has been used for airstrikes in the Syrian Civil War and for border patrol on Iran's eastern border. As of 2017, the Shahed 129 and Shahed Saeqeh are expected to form the backbone of Iran's high-end UAV fleet for at least the next decade.Shahed 131 (Geran-1)
The Shahed 131, also called Geran-1 in Russian service, came to prominence in October 2022 during the Russo-Ukrainian war. It is powered by a Wankel engine model Shahed-783/788. 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. The flight controller has a backup inertial navigation system by MEMS gyroscope. Its primary instructions are derived from a commercial-grade GPS unit.The Shahed 131 is visually distinguished by vertical stabilisers that extend only upwards from the ends of the wings, while on the larger Shahed 136 they extend both up and down. It has a warhead and has a range of.
HESA Shahed 136 (Geran-2)
The HESA Shahed 136, or simply Shahed 136, known also as the Geran-2 in Russian service, is a loitering munition in the form of an autonomous pusher-prop UCAV. It is designed and manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, or HESA, in association with Shahed Aviation Industries. Its first appearance was 13 September 2022, when photos of the remains of a drone used by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine were publicly released. The wings were inscribed with "M412 Герань-2" as a means of disguising the drone and concealing Iran's part in the invasion of Ukraine, but it was recognized by its wing design, and Geran-2 drones are considered by Ukraine and its Western allies to be redesignated Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones. Experts have estimated a Shahed 136 costs between to to make. A series of leaked emails and documents revealed Russia had purchased 6,000 Shahed 136s for each in 2023. Russia is reported to be manufacturing a version of the Shahed 136, and Ukraine was also planning to produce its own version.The drones were used in the October 2022 missile strikes on Kyiv