Russia may have reached a production capacity of about 2,000 Shahed-136 one-way attack drones per month, the Ukrainian military news outlet Defense Express reported on Dec. 23 after analyzing the serial numbers of recently downed drones.
The comparison of the debris from a drone downed in February 2024 with the serial number I 2600 and the debris from a drone downed over Kharkiv on Dec. 21 with the serial number I 11934E could indicate that Russia has already produced about 10,000 Shaheds in 2024 in its own facilities.
Initially, Russian forces used M index Shaheds, believed to be Iranian-made drones, but later in 2023 they switched to K index and occasionally KB index drones, assembled in Russia but no longer used in 2024.
On Sept. 18, Forbes Ukraine wrote that the production rate of Shahed-136 attack drones exceeded 500 units per month.