New thermobaric warhead discovered in Shahed

Russians have started using Shahed-136 kamikaze drones with a new thermobaric warhead.

The corresponding video with an overview of a surviving drone was published by the Telegram channel “Operational Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

The remains of the surviving drone were found in an open field. This drone was shot down or landed using an electronic warfare system.

During the inspection of the drone, a special thermobaric warhead with the index “TBBCH-50M”, weighing 50 kg, was found, which was being installed on these drones.

According to Russian sources, the use of the new thermobaric warhead began with drones with the serial number “Y” and was first spotted in April 2024.

In addition, the new warhead became the fourth type used on Russian Geranium-2/Shahed-136 drones.

The distribution and replacement of warheads on Russian drones is carried out on different series, namely: 50 kg Iranian high-explosive warhead on drones with the serial number “M”, Russian thermobaric 52 kg BST-52 warhead or 50 kg BSF-50 high-explosive warhead on drones with the serial number “K” and “KB”, and the “Y” series, which used the 50 kg OFZBCH-50 high-explosive warhead and the 50 kg thermobaric TBBCH-50(M).

The modification of warheads may be related to the Russians’ search for the most effective warhead that would be best suited for mass use.

In addition, it is noted that the trend of using thermobaric warheads was increasing significantly, as evidenced by the warheads found on downed and recovered drones.

The peculiarity of the thermobaric munitions is that after the initiator is detonated, the shock wave causes the movement of a thermobaric mixture that interacts with air and with itself, forming a fire cloud. The temperature of this cloud ranges from 2000 to 2600 degrees Celsius and spreads over the entire area.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that data on the update of the combat characteristics of the Shahed-136 attack drones, which Russians use to strike at Ukraine, had appeared on the network.

It is also stated that fuel consumption had decreased and the flight range of the attack drone had increased by 140 km.