Russia has its Shaheddrones equipped with infrared projectors to blind the night vision equipment of Ukrainian pilots, reports the Ukrainian portal Militarnyi.
According to the report, the information was shared by radio technology specialist Serhiy Flashwhich posted a photo of the new modification of the Russian drone on a Telegramchannel installed.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this on one Shahed. This is an IR (infrared) projector for drones and air defense aircraft. The enemy is still working on countermeasures,” Flash wrote.
In theory, these infrared LEDs could temporarily blind the night vision equipment of Ukrainian pilots or even completely disable older generations.
However, it must be emphasized that modern military night vision equipment is equipped with built-in protection against this type of glare. Therefore, the effectiveness of such countermeasures can only be determined by actual operational application.
In addition, thermal images, especially the thermal cameras on reconnaissance drones, are not sensitive to this type of glare because they operate in different spectral bands.
Nevertheless, this discovery highlights Russia’s activities with experiments on their attack drones. Only in December 2025, four modifications were identified, including a new optical device and a new communications antenna.
Also the installation of an air-to-air missile R-60 was observed. This short-range missile has an infrared seeker that does not require radar to hit a target.
Its use usually involves attacks on helicopters and tactical aircraft at close range. It is likely that the Russians put this in the Shahed will integrate to combat Ukrainian fighter planes and helicopters hunting UAVs.
Photos: Serhiy Flash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editors.
