Russia develops new jet-powered drones capable of reaching speeds of up to 500 km/h - MoD
Photo: Russian drone (Getty Images)
Russian forces are planning to strike Ukraine with new jet-powered Geran-4 drones, which are capable of reaching speeds of up to 500 km/h, states the advisor to the Minister of Defense, Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, during a national telethon broadcast.
Russia is currently using jet-powered Geran-3 drones, which are capable of reaching speeds of up to 300 km/h. Ukrainian forces are successfully countering these targets.
However, in the future, the enemy is expected to deploy a faster version of these drones — the Geran-4. Their speed may reach 400–500 km/h. Russian forces reportedly hope that such targets will be significantly harder to intercept.
The defense advisor emphasized that Ukraine is aware of these Russian intentions. According to Beskrestnov, the Defense Forces are taking appropriate countermeasures and developing specialized interceptor drones.
Effectiveness of Ukrainian interceptor drones
"Flash" stated that Ukrainian interceptor drones are currently destroying around 50% of Russian Shahed drones. In winter, this figure stood at about 10%.
He noted that the interception rate is expected to continue increasing. The advisor added that if effectiveness reaches 70–80%, the use of standard gasoline-powered Shaheds would become questionable for Russian forces.
Bloomberg reported that in April, drone production in Russia increased by 117% compared to the same period in 2025. This year, Moscow plans to produce 7.3 million FPV drones and 7.8 million warheads for drones.
In addition, Russia has significantly increased Shahed production, although a substantial part of this so-called domestic output relies on components from China.
