'US-Israel-Iran war’: How much warhead weight does the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone carry?
The Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone, equipped with a 50 kilogramme high-explosive warhead, delivers significant destructive power across a range of up to 2,500 kilometres.
The 50 kilogramme payload
The Shahed-136 carries a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing approximately 50 kilogrammes in its nose section.
Designed for fragmentation
The warhead is engineered to scatter metal fragments over a wide area, making it lethal against unarmoured vehicles and personnel.
Impact on critical infrastructure
Despite its compact size, the 50 kilogramme warhead can cause severe structural damage to power grids and fuel storage tanks.
Comparison with Shahed-131
The smaller Shahed-131 variant carries a significantly lighter warhead of about 15 kilogrammes, intended for shorter-range tactical missions.
High-energy explosive composition
Military analysts state the warhead typically uses RDX or similar high-energy explosives to maximise the blast radius upon impact.
Precision over payload size
The drone trades a larger payload for long-range capability, relying on GPS guidance to hit exact coordinates with high accuracy.
Swarm tactic effectiveness
The 50 kilogramme payload is most effective when used in swarms, where multiple drones overwhelm air defences to ensure at least one strike.
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