Iranian-designed Shahed drone have emerged as one of the most destructive and difficult weapons to intercept in the ongoing Middle East war, analysts say, citing their low cost, explosive design and advanced navigation systems.
The drones, which are built to detonate on impact, rely on a combination of satellite navigation and internal guidance technology that allows them to continue flying even when GPS signals are jammed.
According to Thomas Withington, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in the United Kingdom, the drones typically connect briefly to GPS to determine their position before or shortly after takeoff.
After this initial positioning, the drones often switch off their receivers and rely on gyroscopes to track movement through what is known as an inertial navigation system.
“GPS is going to get jammed by whatever is protecting the target,” Withington told AFP.
“If you look at a map of GPS jamming at the moment in the Middle East, you see that there’s a lot of jamming… By not using the GPS, you avoid that.”
Experts say the drones can later reconnect to GPS shortly before striking a target to improve accuracy, though they are also capable of remaining offline.
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“It’s not always necessarily very accurate, but it’s as accurate as it needs to be,” Withington said.
The technology behind the drones has also attracted attention in the Russia–Ukraine War, where Russia has produced similar Shahed-style drones for use on the battlefield.
Research conducted in 2023 by the Institute for Science and International Security found that some of the drones deployed in Ukraine incorporated “state-of-art antenna interference suppression” systems designed to filter out enemy jamming signals while maintaining access to GPS.
Industry sources also revealed that anti-jamming components were discovered in the wreckage of an Iranian-made drone that struck Cyprus during the early days of the Middle East conflict.
“They have put (the Shahed) together using off-the-shelf parts, but it has… many of the capabilities that US military GPS equipment has,” said Todd Humphreys, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.
“They have put (the Shahed) together using off-the-shelf parts, but it has… many of the capabilities that US military GPS equipment has,” Humphreys added.
Officials in Ukraine say the drones have continued to evolve on the battlefield.
“The Shaheds have been upgraded,” said Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian air force.
A 2023 study by RUSI also noted that the drones are constructed from “lightweight radar-absorbing materials”, including plastic and fibreglass, which reduce their visibility to radar systems.
Combined with their small size and ability to fly at low altitude, these features allow the drones to slip through some air defence systems, making them a persistent threat in modern conflicts.
