Conflict Armament Research (CAR) has  documented  Iranian-manufactured uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by the Russian Federation to attack critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine. CAR has previously confirmed the Iranian origin of these UAVs – which have caused severe power outages in major cities such as Kyiv – and shown the reliance of the systems used in Ukraine on components produced by companies based in Europe and the United States. 

In January 2023, a CAR field investigation team documented the warhead of an Iranian Shahed-131 single-use UAV. This is the first time that analysis of these warheads has been released in the public domain. CAR’s analysis shows that this multipurpose warhead was designed to ensure maximum damage to targets such as critical infrastructure, while also having a significant impact on the ability to undertake quick repair efforts. 

The use of multiple effect warheads suggests that they may have been designed specifically for attacks against large targets like energy infrastructure. This observation is supported by the fact that, while the overall finish of the warhead seems well done, the fragmentation matrixes appear to be a later addition, with poor fit, finish, alignment, and quality.

Previous CAR documentations show that Shahed UAVs can be fitted with other types of warhead to serve different purposes. In November 2022, CAR documented a Shahed-136 UAV warhead with reinforced, 7-mm-thick steel casing to allow it to penetrate structures before detonating. CAR assessed that that version of the warhead would be fitted with a short-delay fuzing assembly designed to initiate the main charge once inside the intended target.

CAR’s analysis shows that the documented warheads enable the Shahed series UAVs to be versatile enough to be used for different targets by Russian forces in Ukraine. While some are built to destroy targets located behind cover, the distinctive multipurpose warhead observed by CAR investigators in January 2023 appears to have been designed to inflict as much damage as possible to infrastructure in a large radius. CAR continues to deploy field investigation teams to Ukraine to monitor for evolutions and changes in the weapons deployed by the Russian Federation in the conflict.

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• Weapons of the War in Ukraine: This report is the result of a three-year study into the supply sources of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, armour, and artillery recovered from armed formations of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk ‘People's Republics’ in eastern Ukraine. ( English ) ( Russian ) ( Ukrainian )

•    Ukraine iTrace Resource Centre : Explore the weapons and ammunition data documented by CAR in Ukraine and read interactive case studies from our field reporting.  Access the Resource Centre .

Established in 2011, Conflict Armament Research generates unique evidence on weapon supplies into armed conflicts in order to inform and support effective weapon management and control.

CAR field investigation teams document illicit weapons, ammunition, and related materiel in conflict-affected locations and trace their supply sources. The teams inspect weapons in a variety of situations—whether recovered by state security forces, surrendered at the cessation of hostilities, cached, or held by insurgent forces. They document all items photographically, date and geo-reference the documentation sites, and incorporate contextual interview data gathered from the forces in control of the items at the time of documentation.

CAR occasionally uses information and photographs from social media as background information but does not base its investigations on them, since the provenance of such data is often difficult to verify. Moreover, open-source information does not always provide the detailed physical elements—notably external and internal markings required to trace weapons and ammunition.

For more information on CAR's methodology, go to    www.conflictarm.com