A jet-powered Shahed drone is seen from behind, filmed by a Ukrainian interceptor drone.
Serhii Sternenko
Russia is planning to carry out at least half of its long-range drone attacks against Ukraine with jet-powered uncrewed systems, said the commander in chief of Ukraine's forces."The enemy is constantly changing its UAV tactics, increasing their numbers, and improving their quality," Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote in a social media post on Thursday. "The aggressor plans to raise the share of jet-powered attack drones to 50%."These turbojet drones are much faster and harder to intercept than the propeller-driven delta-wing drones Russia uses by the thousands.Syrskyi didn't provide any evidence for his assessment of Russia's plans, but wrote that the shift "presents new challenges that require a timely response."The Geran-2, Russia's analog of the Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munition, remains the Kremlin's most commonly used long-range strike drone.But Kyiv has anticipated for months that Russia would significantly expand its production and use of jet-powered drones, which current Ukrainian air defenses could struggle to counter at scale.The Geran-3, for example, is closely related to the Shahed-238, a drone reported to fly at over 205 mph. A later version with a more powerful engine and a shorter nose, the Geran-4, has been said by Ukrainian intelligence to fly at speeds of over 300 mph.
