The State Bureau of Investigation in Ukraine has said MiG-29’s pilot was forced to eject from his fighter after damage by shrapnel after the blow-up of Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone.
Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jet crashed after being scrambled to intercept Russia’s Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones in the Vinnytsia region on 12 October. Ukrainian officials claim that a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum pilot shot down five Shahed-136s and two cruise missiles of undisclosed type before being forced to eject from his fighter.
“According to one version of the investigation, near the Turbov, during the destruction of another object, the wreckage of a downed enemy drone caught the cockpit of a Ukrainian aircraft,” the State Bureau said in a release on Friday.
In a release also noted that the pilot steered the fighter into the field to avoid large-scale destruction and civilian casualties. He managed to eject and was hospitalized in stable condition.
Iran-supplied Shahed-136 is a loitering or kamikaze drone fully developed and manufactured by the Iranian defense industry. It was unveiled in December 2021 during a video report of Iranian TV.
The Shahed-136, also known as Heran 2, has a length of 3.5 m, a wingspan of 2.5 m, and a weight of 200 kg. The drone is equipped with an explosive warhead and can fly at a range of up to 2,500 km at a maximum speed of 185 km/h.