Financial Toll on Ukraine of Downing Cheap Iranian Drones Has Exceeded $28 Million

The estimated cost to Ukraine stands at more than $28.14m, according to the analysis, which is based on open sources. The data includes drones launched between 13 September and 17 October, which vastly exceeds the sums paid by Russia in sourcing and launching the cheap Iranian-made technology.

These calculations were made by military analysts at the NGO Molfar.

According to open sources, a total of 161 Shahed-136 drones with the total cost ranging between $3.22m до $8.05m, one larger Shahed-129 with the approximate cost of $7.5, and four even larger unmanned attack vehicles known as Mohajer-6 have been shot down by Ukrainian air defences in the last month. Thus, the total cost to Russia of the failed drone attacks unleashed on Ukraine in recent weeks is estimated to be between $11.66m and $17.9m.

Ukraine has deployed a host of weaponry to bring down the drones, including MiG-29 jets, C-300 cruise missiles, NASAMS ground defence systems and small-arms fire.

“The estimated cost of air defence and air-to-air missiles used by Ukraine stands at more than $28.14m”, the analysts reported.

The researchers also calculated how successful the AFU were in shooting down Iranian drones. In almost all cases, the downing rate exceeds 50%, which is considered an excellent performance. The average estimated drone downing rate sometimes may even reach 80%.

"Unfortunately, the Russian Federation can use cheap Iranian drones to bombard Ukraine on a daily basis, since the cost of this attacks is negligible for Russia. Also, drones can be used in tandem with missiles: first the air defense systems are disarmed with a drone attack, and then the missiles are launched – this tactics is commonly used by Russian terrorists", analysts concluded.

Molfar team urged Ukraine's Western partners to provide the latest air defense systems and other systems to combat aerial targets to ensure reliable protection against a new air hazard due to Russia's active use of cheap Iranian drones.

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