Russia Straps MANPADS Missile On Shahed Drone To Counter Attack Helicopters 

Low-cost drones have transformed modern warfare forever during the nearly four-year-long Russia-Ukraine war. These commercially available systems have been used to strike cities, power grids, ports, refineries, and military bases, delivering maximum impact at minimal cost.

The evolution of these drones is notable as well. One major issue that drones on both sides of the battlefield have faced is counter-drone operations involving electronic warfare, interceptor drones, fighter jets, and attack helicopters. However, none have yet proven consistently effective at scale.

In response, both sides have increasingly deployed attack helicopters to hunt drones, using machine guns and missiles to shoot them down at close range.

To deter enemy aircraft, the Russians apparently have mounted a shoulder-fired man-portable air defense missile on top of an Iranian-designed loitering munition known as a Shahed-136.

Military blog Army Recognition states Ukrainian forces have “intercepted for the first time a Shahed drone fitted with an Igla-S MANPADS missile.”

Here’s more color on the first publicly documented case of a MANPADS missile mounted on a Shahed drone for air defense purposes:

On January 4, 2026, the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces stated that fighters from the Darknode Battalion of the 412th Nemesis Brigade intercepted a Russian Shahed-type kamikaze drone fitted with an Igla-S man-portable air defense system. This variant, observed for the first time during the war, carried a camera and a radio modem, allowing the missile to be launched remotely by an operator located on Russian territory to threaten Ukrainian helicopters and low-flying aircraft involved in counter-drone interception.

Ukraine may now have to allocate more air defense assets and counter-UAS resources to deal with such a threat, as MANPADS-armed drones could potentially serve as a decentralized air defense layer for Russia’s advancing forces. (Picture source: Ukrainian MoD)

According to Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian military and technical expert, the missile launch was not automatically but manually triggered by the Shahed operator using the onboard camera feed and radio link. This new variant was assessed as being intended to engage Ukrainian helicopters and other low-flying aircraft that had previously intercepted Russian drones at close range using machine guns or cannons. Army aviation crews were warned to avoid approaching Shahed drones on a head-on course and to be particularly cautious when encountering drones flying in circular or loitering patterns, which were interpreted as potential attempts to draw aircraft into missile engagement zones. Ukrainian units also indicated that examination of the tactics associated with this configuration was ongoing in order to adapt interception procedures.

The rapid evolution of low-cost drones is a concerning development, and it is almost certainly only a matter of time before such drones appear in the Americas. Drug cartels in Mexico are already known to have deployed smaller ones for surveillance and attacks.