Ukraine says Russia’s new jet-powered attack drone is full of foreign parts and immune to electronic warfare

• Ukraine’s military has published new information about Russia’s jet-powered Geran-3 attack drone.
• It reports that the drones are full of foreign-made parts and appear to be immune to electronic warfare.
• The Geran-3, modeled after an Iranian drone, is faster than its predecessor.

Russia’s new jet-powered attack drones are full of foreign parts and built with jamming-resistant technology to shield them from electronic warfare, the Ukrainian military said Tuesday.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known as the HUR, published new details about the Geran-3, a Russian drone modeled after the Iranian-made Shahed-238, including what’s inside the deadly weapon.

The Geran-3 first appeared in Ukraine earlier this year, and the drone has since become a common element of Russian attacks. It is a faster, more advanced iteration of the Geran-2, Russia’s domestically produced version of the Iranian Shahed-136.

Unlike the Geran-2, which is propeller-driven, the Geran-3 has a turbojet engine that allows the drone to move at speeds of up to 370 kilometers per hour (230 miles per hour) with a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). The weapon is packed with explosives and detonates on impact after diving toward its target.

The Geran-3 usually reaches maximum speed in areas covered by Ukrainian air defenses and during the terminal phase of its flight, the HUR wrote in a statement shared to the Telegram messaging app.

The HUR said that the Geran-3’s internal layout and electronic units are similar to those of the Geran-2 variant, and available data suggests that this new jet-powered drone is equipped with the same camera and video transmission system as its predecessor.

However, the Geran-3 is notably outfitted with a satellite navigation system that appears resistant to the extensive electronic warfare tactics used to counter drones on both sides of the war.

Nearly 50 foreign components are inside the Geran-3, with origins in a handful of Western countries — including the US, UK, Switzerland, and Germany — and China, the HUR said. Beijing has long been accused of providing critical technology to Russia.

Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the international community in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but while a country or company may not be involved in directly exporting its technology to Russia, it’s still possible for foreign-made parts to end up there via approaches beyond their control.

The Geran-3 is one of many Russian weapons that Ukraine has said are fitted with foreign-made parts, including those built by Western manufacturers.

The development of the jet-powered Geran-3 underscores Russia’s growing investment in one-way attack drone capabilities. Moscow has ramped up production of its Shahed-style drones and is producing thousands of these weapons — modeled after the Iranian versions — each month.

Russia is also building new launch sites for its attacks against Ukraine. It has demonstrated that it is already capable of launching hundreds of drones in mass attacks — one bombardment earlier this month involved over 800 drones — and Western intel assessments suggest that this figure could eventually reach 2,000 in a night.

Ukraine has responded to the recent uptick in drone attacks by rushing to mass-produce a large arsenal of interceptor drones. These systems, which can chase down targets, have emerged as a low-cost air defense solution. They can reportedly intercept the Geran-3 now.

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