The Shahed 131, or Geran-1 in Russian service, is an Iranian-made

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

which came to prominence in October 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is powered by a Wankel engine model Shahed-783/788.

Janes Janes is an English patronymic family name. Its root is believed to be from the possessive of the given name ''Jan'' (see ''Jayne''), ''John'' or ''Ian''. In England, the name appears to have its densest roots in Bedfordshire and Gloucestershire ...

created an in-depth technical summary of the machine.

Design

The Shahed-131 is powered by the Serat-1 Wankel engine, which is a copy of the Beijing Micropilot UAV Control System Ltd MDR-208 Wankel engine. An engine of this type was used for the drone in the 2019 Aramco attack in Abqaiq, which was referred to the UN Secretariat as part of the Resolution 2231 2020 investigations. The Shahed-131 flight control unit was found to be able to connect with

Iridium satellites The Iridium satellite constellation provides L band voice and data information coverage to satellite phones, pagers and integrated transceivers over the entire surface of Earth. Iridium Communications owns and operates the constellation, addit ...

, which in theory allows the flight path to be altered mid flight. The flight controller has a backup inertial navigation system by

MEMS gyroscope A vibrating structure gyroscope, defined by the IEEE as a Coriolis vibratory gyroscope (CVG), is a gyroscope that uses a vibrating structure to determine the rate of rotation. A vibrating structure gyroscope functions much like the halteres of fl ...

. Its primary instructions are derived from a commercial-grade GPS unit. Designs for the Kentron ARD-10 loitering drone were sold to Iran Aviation Industries Organization in 2004/5 and used by

Shahed Aviation Industries Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center (مرکز تحقیقات صنایع هوایی شاهد) is an Iranian aerospace company known for designing military helicopters and UAVs. They are associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps A ...

to develop the Shahed 131 and Shahed 136 drones, according to ''Air Forces Monthly'' magazine. However a Royal United Services Institute article states the origins of the Shahed 131 are obscure. Its warhead weighs 15 kg and its launch range is 900 km.Russia’s Iranian-Made UAVs: A Technical Profile
'' Royal United Services Institute''. 13 January 2023.

Operational history

It has been alleged the drone was first seen in the Arabian Peninsula when it was used to attack Saudi targets by the Houthi rebels. However '' The Washington Post'' reported that other types of drone were used in that attack. It was used in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, under a Russian name Geran-1.

Operators

* * : Used as the Geran-1.

Non-State Actors

* Houthishttps://defense-update.com/20220927_yemeni-houthis-display-iranian-drones-and-loitering-missiles.html#.ZBhTYPZBy38

References

External link