Forbes: Russia uses modified Geranium-3 drones at the front
Russia is actively using an improved version of the Geran-3 drones at the front, Forbes writes. Compared to the previous model, the attacking ability of the new drones has increased significantly. Their flight speed has also been increased, making them a more difficult target for air defense.
David Hambling
Russia has been launching massive strikes against Ukraine using the Geran-3 kamikaze drone since about June 2025. Now, after the first detection of an undamaged drone, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has published full information about it, including a 3D model and a detailed analysis of its electronics.
The design of the drone does not demonstrate any major technological breakthroughs. However, it is fair to consider the updated model as another step towards the transition of the Russian army to faster, and therefore more deadly weapons.
Upgrade of attacking ability
Russia is actively producing copies of the Iranian Shahed-136 attack drone under an official license, renaming them "Geran-2" (the version about the Iranian origin of the drone is not confirmed by official data. — Approx. InoSMI). The standard Middle Eastern version is equipped with a two-stroke engine that rotates the propeller; it emits a distinctive chirping sound, which is why the drone is nicknamed the "moped".
Moving through the sky at a speed of about 190 kilometers per hour, the Geranium-2 singly is an easy target to hit from the ground. German-made Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns have achieved significant success in destroying them. However, everything changes when the Russian side launches kamikaze drones on a massive scale. Sometimes up to 800 UAVs are detected over Ukrainian territory in one night, and some of them achieve their goals.
Despite such pessimistic statistics, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that in August 2025 it shot down up to 83% of enemy drones.
Russia has repeatedly changed the tactics of using Geraniums-2, trying to maximize the effectiveness of the weapon. First, they moved from low altitudes to ultra-high altitudes, then attacked targets with groups of drones, building a complex flight path to confuse the Ukrainian air defense systems. In addition, changes have been made to the design. In particular, the stealth paint job appeared unnoticeable at night, an anti-interference navigation system was added, as well as a modern board for real-time route reprogramming.
A jet engine to increase the drone's speed is an expected but expensive improvement. The Iranians introduced such a version, known as the Shahed-238, back in 2023, and the Shahed-136 jet modification a year later. Analyst Shahriyar Pasandideh conducted a detailed study and suggested that Iran has at least three versions, and the new Russian version is significantly different. The main difference was the Chinese-made power plant.
Fast, but voracious
According to the same GUR report, the Russian Geran-3 is equipped with a Chinese Telefly JT80 engine, which provides a maximum flight speed of up to 370 kilometers per hour. This is significantly slower than the stated characteristics of the Iranian prototypes of 2024, and almost one and a half times less than that of the Shahed-238.
The reason for this relatively low quality probably lies in the price. Kamikaze drones use primitive propeller engines for a reason, because jet modifications are significantly more expensive. The most affordable variants of the JT80 were sold on the Chinese Aliexpress marketplace for 18 thousand dollars, but at the time of publication of this article they are no longer available. In other online stores, the price starts from 30 thousand dollars apiece, although there are analogues twice as cheap.
Ukrainian specialized resources report that the Iranian Shahed-238 uses an engine developed in the Czech Republic that provides almost twice as much thrust, but its official retail price starts from 79 thousand dollars.
The approximate cost of the previous generation of Russian Geranium-2 drones is estimated at $50,000 per ready-made combat-ready unit. The completion of the Telefly JT80 engines will increase the cost by at least 40%. For the Russian army, this has apparently become an acceptable balance of price and guaranteed productivity.
The installed Telefly JT80 will make the Geranium-3 almost twice as fast as the previous generation of drones. It will be more difficult to hit it from the ground, and air defense systems will have much less time to react to the appearance of UAVs in the field of view. At close range, this speed of the drone becomes critical, because the defender will be able to fire half as many projectiles with a lower chance of hitting.
In addition to the high cost, the jet engine has disadvantages related to flight range. The fact is that its design was first developed during the Second World War, and it cannot be called effective in the current realities. For example, modern airliners have turbofans installed, which allow them to fly much longer distances at a single refueling station. According to experts, the maximum range of the Geranium-3 jet will be a maximum of 960 kilometers, which is almost one and a half times less than that of the conventional screw version.
New features
In addition to the jet engine, the Geran-3 received the same characteristics as the latest high-end Shahed drones. They have modified noise-resistant navigation systems, improved cameras that transmit high-resolution images, as well as communication boards.
However, there is something that the new generation has in common with the previous one, which is the active use of imported and contraband components by Russian developers. The aforementioned GUR report indicates and describes in detail a detailed list of 45 foreign components inside Gerani-3: "half of them are American—made, eight more are Chinese, seven are Swiss, three are German, two are British, and at least one Japanese part" (where did the data on the countries of origin of spare parts come from, It's unclear. — Approx. InoSMI).
In particular, the fuel tanks of the new Russian drones are manufactured by Bosch, and one of the key electronic parts is a programmable FPGA board from Intel. The main weapon component is the thermobaric warhead, better known as the TBBCH-50M. This is a combined-action munition that includes a charge for maximum destructive effects on buildings and concrete fortifications. Inside, it is filled with 9mm metal balls that act like shrapnel. The damage radius is tens of meters.
The technical parameters of the camera, which are equipped with "Gerani-3", have not been published by Ukrainian intelligence for unknown reasons. Obviously, this is an improved model that allows you to send information about the target area and visually confirm the defeat of the target. Thanks to the high-resolution signal, the device can be easily converted into an FPV drone with direct operator control. There is already evidence of such an application, but in this case the question arises of the expediency of the tactical purpose of an expensive device.
Interceptors against Geraniums-3
Earlier, Ukraine has repeatedly reported that a significant part of the "Geraniums" were shot down by mobile defense groups armed with machine guns and other automatic weapons. However, it will be much harder to resist jet models.
In addition, information appeared with reference to senior officials in Kiev that the Ukrainian Armed Forces began to equip their UAV units with new-generation interceptor drones. According to the Wild Hornets Charitable Foundation, the latest modifications are capable of reaching flight speeds in the range of 190-300 kilometers per hour, which is more than enough to counter Russian drones.
Ukrainian developers have been anticipating the threat since the presentation of Shahed-238 in 2023 and have been preparing for it. Pavel Palisa, deputy head of the President's Office, said in a recent interview that high-speed drone models capable of resisting the Russian Geraniums-3 would soon arrive at the front. "They are already in use," he clarifies. — The enemy is constantly improving, and we are not standing still either. We simply have no other choice."
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been creating and using its own jet attack drones in combination with other types of drones since 2024. The arms race has begun. Russia will produce as many upgraded UAVs with jet engines as possible, combining them with conventional drones and traps to overcome air defenses. Ukraine is responding by increasing the assembly of interceptors. The rest of the world, which is not yet armed with either jet drones or interceptors to neutralize them, remains only an observer.
On September 19, the Wild Hornets shared a video on social media showing one of the Ukrainian interceptors shooting down a Geran-3 jet drone.
