Russia deploys new high-speed drones amid claims they contain western parts | Ukraine

Russia started using a new high-speed drone model against Ukraine, following allegations by the Kiev military intelligence directorate that important parts were supplied from Western and Chinese companies.

Debris recovered from the Geran-5 long-range attack drone fired over Ukraine in early January points to a range of new capabilities that experts believe could pose a serious threat to Ukraine’s already-stressed air defenses if deployed on a large scale.

Local reports suggest two drones have been shot down this year, one near Kiev and the other near Dnipro.

Powered by a Chinese turbojet engine, the Geran-5 has a long cylindrical fuselage attached to the wings, unlike previous models based on Iran’s delta-shaped Shahed drone, making it look more like a conventional aircraft.

With an estimated top speed of 600 km/h (370 mph), it is significantly faster than the previous jet-powered Geran-3, which had a top speed of less than 400 km/h.

The increasing speed of Russian attack drones was cited by the Guardian last year as a growing challenge for members of Ukraine’s small fire mobile air defense teams, which operate pickup trucks mounted with machine guns to shoot down the drones, as the window of time to shoot them down becomes ever smaller.

The Geran-5 has a range of just under 1,000 km (620 miles) and can carry a payload of 90 kg. There is speculation that Russia plans to further extend the range of the weapon by sending it airborne on a manned jet.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech at the World Economic Forum this week that Russia produces more drones (about 500 a day) and ballistic missiles than it uses in attacks. While Russia launched a record 810 drones into Ukraine in a single night in September, smaller daily air strikes are more typical.

“About 500 in Russia [more] Speaking in Davos, Zelenskyy said: “Every day Iranian drones and dozens of missiles, ballistic missiles.” Such a figure indicates that Russia’s production at its factory in the Alabuga special economic zone has almost tripled since the beginning of last year, when Ukrainian intelligence said about 170 drones were being produced per day.

Ukraine has also expressed concerns about components detected in new drones allegedly containing parts from Germany and China and microchips that appear to be manufactured in the United States.

The emergence of the new Geran-5 marks a marked shift in the emphasis on Russia’s drone warfare. While experts predict there will be more and more daily drone strikes, the average number fired each day has stabilized at just over 170 on average. new report Moscow appears to be focusing more on technological advances to defeat Ukraine’s air defenses, according to a report published this week by the Institute for Science and International Security.

“Currently, a relative increase in the number of Shahed type unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with online video cameras and radio modems has been observed compared to the total number of such UAVs.” [unmanned aerial vehicles].

“The implementation of such an upgrade requires the use of special equipment and the presence of operators with the necessary training to effectively control Shahed type unmanned aerial vehicles. This phenomenon may also be one of the factors contributing to the observed limitation in the increase in the total number of launches.”

Other innovations reported by Ukraine’s intelligence agency this year include Geran-2 drones, which appear to be equipped with portable anti-aircraft missiles for use against Ukrainian planes that try to shoot them down.