Russia has for the first time unveiled a new heavy jet-powered attack drone, the "Geran-5". Footage of its launch was broadcast during the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow. This was noted by Defence blog author Dylan Malyasov.
The drone is about 6 m long and has a wingspan of up to 5.5 m. The new "Geran" is significantly larger than previous versions.
The "Geran-5" is equipped with a jet engine, which significantly affects its speed, acoustic, and radar profile.
In its design, the "Geran-5" is similar to the Iranian Karrar attack drone. This indicates close cooperation between Russia and Iran in drone development.
According to Malyasov, the navigation complex of the "Geran-5" consists of several redundant systems, which makes it difficult for the enemy to create interference and spoof signals.
According to some reports, the new drone is equipped with a flight controller that is installed on previous versions of "Geran" drones.
In particular, the drone received the Russian jam-resistant satellite navigation system with a digital antenna array "Kometa-M12". Communication is provided using the Xingkai Tech XK-F358 radio modem.
Electronic components for the "Geran-5" are manufactured in China, the USA, and Germany. Western export control bodies are unsuccessfully trying to disrupt this logistics chain.
The author of Defence blog claims that satellites detected the launch infrastructure for the "Geran-5" in the Oryol region. The length of the special ground-based inclined guide is about 80 m, which is several times longer than the launchers of earlier drone versions.
The high flight speed of the new attack drone reduces the possibility of its interception by enemy air defense systems. The combination of long range (up to 1000 km), speed (up to 600 km/h), and multi-level navigation architecture makes the "Geran-5" a more effective weapon.