Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine with jet drones for a long time, but they became a real problem in the summer, when the number of such UAVs among the weapons the aggressor country launched at Ukraine in a single attack began to multiply. What makes these drones so dangerous, how Ukraine is learning to counter them, and what the next threat from the sky Russia may pose to Ukrainians in a few months — in the GORDON piece.
What is known about jet drones?
Russia uses three types of jet drones in the war against Ukraine — Geran-3, Geran-4 and Geran-5. Ukrainians have grown used to calling the third and fourth modifications of Geran Shahed because of their external shape, similar to the first Iranian UAVs with that name, which the occupiers launched at Ukraine since 2022. The Russians rebuilt and improved these drones and produce them under a new name. The first modifications built in the Russian Federation were equipped with four-cylinder engines; Geran-3 already has a jet engine, according to a Schemes (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty project) report released on 19 September.
Mentions of the first possible use of jet Gerans appeared in the media as early as 2023; in September last year, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine already had detailed data about the design and components used in the manufacture of this UAV. According to the GUR MO, Geran-3 can fly at speeds from 300 to 370 km/h, with an estimated operating range of up to 1 thousand km.
Journalists from Schemes, together with specialists who study fragments of kamikaze drones after massive attacks by the Russian army, in particular on Kyiv and the Kyiv region, examined what modern Geran-4 drones are made of and disassembled one such UAV. It was manufactured in Alabuza, and after falling in Ukraine the drone survived.
In addition to a jet engine, this drone has a mesh modem that provides uninterrupted communication, a camera with optical and digital zoom, and a protected 16-channel antenna that complicates the work of Ukrainian EW systems.
It is equipped with a navigation system, including via GSM communication, has a warhead of up to 90 kg and foreign components, mostly Chinese, but also from Western countries. The Russians in this drone are the assembly, journalists emphasize.
"The turbojet engine allows Geran-4 to climb to an altitude of up to 8 thousand meters stably. And to fly at a speed of 450–500 km (sometimes more) over the territory of Ukraine. It flies fast and high, so there are currently problems with shooting down Gerans. 8 thousand meters is almost like a normal civilian airplane. Jet, small," an expert said in the report; the editorial office did not disclose his name and position for security reasons.
A larger engine is installed on Geran-4 than on its predecessor. This is a civilian Chinese engine that can be purchased in Ukraine as well, for example on the Prom marketplace (only many times more expensive than in China), the expert said.
These drones are equipped with cameras, and if there is a connection, the operator who launches Geran-4 from Russian Oryol, Bryansk or occupied Crimea can see which object is being attacked, the report emphasizes.
For example, such a UAV attacked the SBU building and a weapons depot in the village of Myla in the Kyiv region.
Geran-5 is called an inexpensive cruise missile; unlike earlier Gerans, it is made according to a normal aerodynamic scheme, the GUR MO reported. But this UAV also has similarities with previous models: Geran-5 is hard to consider a domestic Russian development, since structurally and technologically it is similar to the Iranian UAV Karrar.
In the summer of 2026, Russia actively switched to jet Geran-4/5 drones, Ukrainian intelligence reported. The GUR MO explains this move by the fact that Ukraine's defense forces learned to successfully shoot down Geran-2 using interceptors.
"In July they slightly reduced the intensity of drone strikes and decreased production because they are retooling production with a focus on turbojet Geran-4 and Geran-5. In one of the recent attacks, 50% were already turbojet UAVs. Now we need different interceptors for them with the appropriate speed or short-range air defense," Major General Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, told RBC-Ukraine on 10 August.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, in June the occupiers used 350 jet drones, and in July — five times more. This trend continued in August and September. In the first three weeks of this month alone, the aggressor country's forces used approximately 1800–1900 jet-powered UAVs in attacks on Ukraine, and overall — almost 7700 such drones. According to Ukrainian intelligence as of 8 September, Russia has increased its missile-drone capabilities and can launch up to 500 Shahed-type jet drones per day. The President’s Office reported that Russia launches these UAVs practically straight from the factory.
"There are more of them. The shootdown rate, of course, remains fairly high, given the limited forces and means of the Air Force. About 60% of jet UAVs are shot down at various stages of their flight," said Yuriy Ihnat, head of the Communications Department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
How to shoot down jet drones?
According to Ihnat, aviation still plays a larger role in shooting down drones. If the shootdown rate for conventional drones, according to the Air Force, is 90–95%, then for jet drones this figure was 60% in August. At the end of the summer, the first successful tests of jet drone interceptors became known, and in September Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that the shootdown rate for jet drones is increasing.
According to the Ministry of Defense, as of the end of summer, Ukraine has four potential types of interceptors that can shoot them down. On 18 September, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that interceptors for jet UAVs from two companies had successfully passed combat tests, and the next day he demonstrated a drone interceptor for jet UAVs that the SBU helped create.
However, this is not the last threat. On 14 September, adviser to the President of Ukraine for the development of technological defense directions Serhiy Beskrestnov (Flesh) warned: the Russians are working on creating cheap cruise missiles ("Banderol", "Dan-T", "Dan-M", "Geran-5") that can fly at speeds of 500–750 km/h at very low altitudes and actively maneuver.
"We also need to think now about what will happen in five months, because then jet interceptors won’t work anymore, since the speed will be even higher. And we need to make cheap Ukrainian missiles to shoot all this down. And we now have five, literally about half a year," Flesh emphasized.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item ""Пʼять місяців". Чому реактивні дрони такі небезпечні і яку наступну загрозу готує Росія". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Gordon.
