Probably to be autonomously guided: Iran officially unveils new Shahed-238 jet
Iran’s Ashura University of Aerospace Sciences and Technology has publicly unveiled a new Shahed-238 jet attack drone.
Footage of the new drone was released by official Iranian media.
The presentation of the developments took place during the visit of the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei to the university in Tehran, where he was shown the latest achievements of the aerospace forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A jet modification of the Shahed-136, called the Shahed-238, was shown at the exhibition. It was presented in three versions with different guidance systems.
In addition to the classic version with an autonomous guidance system based on the inertial system and GPS signals (in the middle), variants with infrared/optical and, probably, radar guidance systems were also shown.
The version with an infrared/optical guidance system (right) can be used to engage heat-contrast targets, including important military equipment behind enemy lines.
The latter drone, thanks to its radar GNSS, can become an analog of anti-radar missiles that are guided by search radar radiation. Such a tool can be useful for neutralizing and breaking through enemy air defense systems.
The fuselages of all three drones are uncharacteristically black, which may be due to the use of radio-absorbing materials. However, there is currently no evidence of this.
It is worth noting that the new drones have undergone structural changes compared to the recently shown prototype, in which the optical station was mounted in the nose under the fuselage.
The technical characteristics of the Shahed-238 remain unknown. The jet engine must provide high speed, but the price for this was to be a reduced flight range.
During the demonstration of the prototype, a launch from an accelerated car was shown. However, as with the previous Shahed-136, the drone should retain the ability to be launched from a stationary platform using a solid-fuel booster.
The prototype shown a week earlier with an optical guidance station was manually controlled by the operator, which imposed limitations on the range and required the use of repeaters near the target. However, the presented versions of the drones, thanks to their GNSS, seem to be able to be guided autonomously.
