The drone war: Iranian-supplied self-detonating drones usher in new era of warfare in Ukraine
Russia's latest onslaught inside Ukraine has been led by Moscow's new weapon — Iranian supplied drones. It could possibly mark the dawn of a new kind of warfare in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, self-detonating drones launched by Russia struck power plants, and forced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to convene an emergency meeting to avoid what he called a "breakdown of [Ukraine's] energy system."
Retired U.S. Gen. Frank McKenzie, who was at one point in charge of all U.S. forces in the Middle East, said the 11-foot-by-8-foot drone carries a relatively small 90-pound warhead that is powerful enough to destroy transformer yards.
"If you launch enough of them, the theory is you will be able to overcome air defense, because they fly at low altitudes, and they're very cheap to produce," McKenzie told CBS News.
He added that Iran produces thousands of the drones.
Since the first self-detonating drone was launched last month, Ukraine claims it has shot down 223 of them. U.S. officials estimate Ukraine has a roughly 50% success rate, which would mean Russia has launched nearly 450 drones.
A 50% rate means more than 200 have gotten through, even though the Ukrainians use everything from guided missiles to small arms fire to try to bring them down.
"They don't necessarily fly a straight line," McKenzie said. "They can do dog legs, different routes to try to avoid where they think you have your own air defenses up that can shoot at them."