Geranium (military UAVs)

History

2025

Reaching Cruise Missile Power

In early July 2025, it became known that the Russian kamikaze drone Geran-3 is capable of developing a cruising speed of up to 600 km/h. In terms of power, this unmanned aerial vehicle is comparable to a cruise missile.

About the features of the drone "Geran-3," as reported by "Komsomolskaya Pravda," said retired colonel, military expert Viktor Baranets. According to him, the drone is equipped with a turbojet power plant with a thrust of 250-300 kg instead of a propeller-engine group, which was used on the Gerani-2. As a result, the Geran-3 drone has become faster and more powerful, and its speed when diving to the target reaches 700 km/h. This is three times higher than the corresponding indicator of Gerani-2, which greatly complicates the interception of the device by anti-aircraft artillery.

The length of Gerani-3 is 3.5 meters, the wingspan is 3 meters. The mass of the drone increased to 380 kg compared to 250 kg in Gerani-2, while the mass of the warhead increased six times - from 50 kg to 300 kg. This allows the drone to hit fortified objects such as bunkers, command posts and industrial buildings. Geran-3 is capable of reaching an altitude of 9.1 km, while the flight time is up to two hours.

Geran-3 has a power comparable to a cruise missile. Its cruising speed reaches 550-600 km/h, "says Baranets.

Geran-3 drones are capable of working in conjunction with devices of the previous generation. At the same time, swarms of drones of various types in the amount of 200 to 400 units can be formed, due to which the effectiveness of the combat mission is significantly increased and the work of enemy air defense systems is complicated. The new UAV is equipped with modern guidance systems - modifications with infrared sensors or passive radar guidance are possible.^[1]

Production of Geranei is localized and rapidly improving

How does Geran-2 differ from the Iranian original Shahed for June 2025?

Engine: the Chinese gasoline MD 500 is on the original Shaheds, but the manufacturer has almost completely localized the product with modifications. Now Gerani-2 can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h (versus 180 for the original), as well as dive at a target at a speed of 400 km/h, which reduces the likelihood of interception.

Computer system: the production of boards of the "on-board computer" is almost completely localized, the technical process and flaw detection have been improved due to automation, improvements have been made. The quality of products has significantly increased compared to the original.

Communication and interference control: the system was successively improved up to the installation of a 16-antenna receiver, a radio channel was added to change the coordinates of the target in the air, and the anti-spoofing algorithm was improved. If the original Shahed is launched, it will not even be able to cross the LB due to interference, and Gerani-2 will fly anywhere.

Warhead: for increased armor penetration, a combined warhead with high-explosive fragmentation, cumulative and incendiary action weighing 90 kg (versus 50 kg for the original) was developed. This allows you to more effectively hit protected targets.

Case: completely localized with improvements up to black, making it difficult to detect visually during night attacks.

Launcher: In addition to full localization, improvements have been made that reduce the time between deployment and launch of the drone.

Only the shape of the corps remained from the Iranian Shahed-136 in Gerani-2. The rest is not just produced in Russia, but sometimes very seriously improved.

Developers are improving the product and launching new ones. The Web has already received modification personnel with a video channel for the possibility of "free hunting," as well as products with a jet engine.

Flight at an altitude of 5 km

At the end of May 2025, it became known that the Russian Geran attack drones began to fly at record altitudes reaching almost 5 km. This makes drones invulnerable to mobile enemy air defense groups, such as pickup trucks armed with large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns.

According to the resource "Military Review," the new drones "Geran" reach the ceiling of 4900 meters, where it is impossible to get them with a machine gun. This increases the efficiency of missions: drones go to the target at high altitude and attack without hindrance. In addition, Gerani received a more powerful warhead: the devices are capable of carrying a 90-kilogram charge on board instead of the previous 50 kg. Thanks to this, the defeat of larger and fortified objects is possible.

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Фото: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, told TASS that in Russia the production of Geran-2 drones was loaded at full capacity. According to The Economist, in 2024, about 300 of these drones were manufactured in the Russian Federation. As of May 2025, such an amount of Geranei is produced in less than three days. According to The Economist, in the future Russia plans to increase the production of these drones to 500 copies daily.

These are real numbers. Russia has established one production line, established a second line. These production lines can and should be expanded, especially since we see the effectiveness of these new drones, "Mikhailov emphasizes.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the development of unmanned aircraft in the country requires promising developments in the field of microelectronics, energy storage and storage, new materials and artificial intelligence systems. One of the main tasks is to create sovereign solutions "for all the main components of drones."^[2]

Start of serial production of Geran-3 drones

On February 18, 2025, it became known that mass production of the Geran-3 attack unmanned aerial vehicle was organized in Russia. This drone is equipped with a jet engine.

According to Military Review, Geran-3 is allegedly an analogue of the Iranian drone Shahed-238. This drone is equipped with a dual-circuit turbojet engine: the device is capable of speeds up to 600 km/h, which makes it practically invulnerable to mobile air defense groups armed with anti-aircraft machine guns and auto guns. The Iranian drone can hit targets at a distance of up to 2500 km. There are three modifications to the Shahed-238. The base model is equipped with an autonomous GPS-based guidance system. Another option captures the target in the infrared and optical bands. The third version is equipped with a radar guidance system: this modification is designed to neutralize enemy air defense systems.

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Фото: Telegram channel Reporter Rudenko V

Rossiyskaya Gazeta notes that the Geran-3 jet kamikaze drone has a wingspan of 2.5 meters and a length of 3.5 meters. The device can carry almost five times more explosives on board than its predecessor, Geran-2. The take-off mass is more than 200 kg, the mass of the warhead is about 50 kg. The drone is invisible on radar and uses satellite navigation to orient in space and follow the route. At the final stage of the flight, an optoelectronic module is used for more accurate targeting.

Drones of the Geranium family can work in complex with drones of other types. In one attack, as noted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, up to 200 unmanned aerial vehicles of different types can be involved, which increases the efficiency of the mission.^[3]

Notes