UKRAINE, Mar. 31 — Russian forces began to attach R-60 missile decoys to Shahed drones to distract Ukrainian interceptor drones, said Serhii Beskrestnov, with the call sign “Flash”, an expert in electronic warfare and current advisor to Ukraine’s minister of defence.

Beskrestnov said that the Ukrainian air forces involved in shooting down the Shaheds know how to react to such situations.

“There are a lot of interceptor units in different branches of the Ukrainian army, and they all try to down such important targets (Shahed drones — ed.). So, we need to think about how to differentiate the Russian Shahed with an R-60 missile from others,” said the expert.

Russian forces adapted a Soviet R-60 missile to launch it on their drones. Such a configuration could hit Ukrainian helicopters and aircraft deployed to intercept Russian drones, reported ArmiaInform, a Ukrainian media outlet.

A camera attached to a Shahed drone transmits footage to an operator, who issues a launch command if a Ukrainian aircraft or helicopter appears in the strike zone. The R-60’s heat-seeking guidance system then automatically tracks the target.

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