File image.
A new version of Russia’s Geran one-way attack drone has reached a speed of about 800 kilometers per hour during a recent flight over the Odessa region, potentially adding another challenge to Ukraine’s already strained air defenses.
In a post to Telegram on September 27, Ukrainian military analyst Alexander Kovalenko said the drone accelerated to roughly 800 kilometers per hour before slowing to around 500 kilometers per hour and continuing along its route.
He suggested it could be a Geran-4 equipped with a new jet propulsion system, while acknowledging that he could be mistaken about the drone’s configuration.
Russia has increasingly deployed jet-powered versions of the Geran family, which are significantly faster than earlier propeller-driven one-way attack drones.
Kovalenko noted in his post that existing jet-powered Geran variants can reach about 500 to 600 kilometers per hour and argued that a production drone capable of briefly reaching 800 kilometers per hour would further reduce the number of air defense systems capable of intercepting it.
The reported development comes as Ukraine is already struggling to defend its airspace against growing numbers of Russian jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles.
Reuters reported on September 22 that jet-powered Russian drones were severely straining Ukraine’s air defenses. These drones can fly at altitudes that put them beyond the reach of some mobile air defense teams armed with machine guns, interceptors and man-portable air defense systems.
Ukraine is also facing shortages of interceptor missiles. The Associated Press reported on September 29 that Ukrainian air defenses were under pressure, with a shortage of U.S.-made Patriot missiles limiting Kyiv’s ability to counter the most difficult threat, ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on September 26 that more than 2,730 jet-powered drones had been launched by Russia during September.
The reported 800 kilometers per hour represents a further evolution of Russia’s jet-powered one-way attack drone campaign at a time when Ukraine is already under pressure to expand both the number and variety of its air defense interceptors.
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