By Philip Butterworth-Hayes
Ukraine’s government and counter-UAS industry is working overtime to find solutions to the appearance at scale of jet-powered versions of Russia Geran drones (see “The evolution of the Shahed 136 to Geran5 and jet propulsion”). These latest versions of ubiquitous Geran series are equipped with Chinese Telefly turbojet engine, mesh radio communications and defensive systems which has made detection and interception far more complex than in the past.
“In August 2026, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence reported that Russia had halted production of its jet-powered Geran-3 kamikaze drones,” according to a recent Institute of Strategic and International Studies paper From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone. “It previously cut back on its attack drone production as it reoriented production lines around the two new models (Geran 4 and Geran 5). In one sense, this is a break in a pattern. But it is also consistent with the doctrine of constant reinvention that Russia has followed with the Geran since 2023. Russian engineers will likely continue to innovate in modular, incremental fashion on top of the Geran-4—one base platform is simply getting swapped out for another.”
Ukraine is testing four high-speed interceptors to tacking this evolving threat, according to the new defence minister Yevhen Khmara speaking to reporters in Kyiv on August 29 this year.
“As Russia scales up production of its jet-powered drones — the Geran-4 and Geran-5 — Ukraine is struggling to shoot them down amid prolonged waves of attacks,” according to the an August 30 article in the Kyiv Independent. “Moscow is increasingly using jet-powered drones, which can travel up to 600 kilometers per hour, more than three times faster than piston-powered Shaheds.” Russia launched 2,500 jet-powered drones so far in August, up from 1,500 last month, said the newspaper.
At the meeting of the Ramstein Ukraine Defence Contact Group between Ukraine and its European allies earlier this month, attendees agreed on urgent measures to increase resources and capabilities to meet ballistic missile and high-speed Geran attacks from Russia, which are growing in intensity. But it will take time to bring these new capabilities to the battlefield.
Around 20 Ukrainian companies are currently working on high-speed interceptors, says Ukraine’s Defender Media. “In addition to Shaheds, the Russians are also using, in particular, the Banderol – a missile-drone with a jet engine. The main difficulty in shooting down jet-powered drones is their maximum speed, which reaches 500–600 km/h. Brave1 (the Ukrainian defence industry market) explains that existing copter-type drones cannot always catch up with such targets, which is why jet-powered interceptors are a necessary technological response. Although they cost more than copters, they remain cheaper than conventional anti-aircraft missiles. For example, the cost of the Griffen jet interceptor is around USD10,000.”
As the lines between one-way attack drones and cruise missiles is starting to blur, so is the line between drone interceptors and intercept missiles.
Most current intercept drone have a top speed of 250 to 300 km/h with one or two niche produces reaching 450 km/h. The Ukrainian defence ministry recently announced the existence of the Alexa Spatium – the first jet-powered interceptor that can reach speeds of up to 600 km/h. Ukrainian/UK companies working in the Firebolt Engineering consortium are also developing jet-propelled high-speed loitering munitions in a C-UAS role with the system’s first confirmed combat interception of a Geran drone reported in July.
An alternative to the high-speed interceptor is the low-cost C-UAS missile, a new generation of which is now being developed at scale by European and US companies. At this year’s Farnborough International Airshow US solid rocket engine manufacturer X-Bow launched its Buckler, a supersonic low-cost interceptor available for under USD100,000 per round. Meanwhile, Frankenburg’s Mark I is the first “affordable” guided air defence missile system “designed to reduce the cost of interception by more than ten times and enable mass production of guided air defence missiles for European and allied nations,” according to the company. And MBDA’s FULGUR is a man-portable, supersonic, fire and forget, all weather missile day and night interceptor is being integrated into the SKY WARDEN counter-UAS system.
Meeting this latest Geran threat will require ever closer cooperation between Ukraine and its industrial partners in the West, and greater financial resources for research, production and operations.
The evolution of the Shahed 136 to Geran5
Sources: United 24 Media, TURDEF, Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence and Defence, Calibre Defence
The September issue of the 2026 Unmanned Airspace Global Counter-UAS Systems Directory is now available. The guide is the world’s only comprehensive, continually updated directory of global C-UAS companies and systems. It itemises over 1,000 C-UAS products and services with performance details, company sales and partnerships arrangements. It is updated every month and broken down into niche sub-sectors (net-capture, missiles, intercept drones, detectors etc) to give C-UAS procurement and industry personnel a unique perspective of global C-UAS technical capabilities and market positions. It is available in word, PDF and excel formats and Unmanned Airspace readers are eligible for a range of discounts. For more information about the Directory please contact the editor Philip Butterworth-Hayes at philip@unmannedairspace.info.
(Main image: Frankenburg)
