Ukrainian Intelligence reveals components of Russia's Gerbera drone
Photo: Ukrainian Intelligence revealed the components of Russia's Gerbera drone (shot from video/mil.in.ua)
The Russian Gerbera drone imitates the Shahed UAV, which Russian forces actively use. Its main purpose is to overwhelm Ukraine's air defense systems, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence reports.
Russia assembles these multi-purpose UAVs at a factory in the city of Yelabuga.
"The Gerbera drone can carry explosive ammunition as a kamikaze drone and conduct electronic reconnaissance, including detecting air defense positions and recording hits from other strike drones," the report says.
Imitating Shahed drone
The Gerbera drone imitates the Shahed-136/Geran-2 and is mass-used by Russia to overload Ukraine's air defense systems.
"Using simple materials (plywood, foam), the Gerbera is much cheaper than the Shahed/Geran. The design of this drone contains a standard set of foreign-made components typical for Russian weaponry," said the Ukrainian Intelligence.
Components of the Gerbera UAV
Investigation of downed drones has confirmed that the Gerbera is made based on a Chinese prototype and uses foreign components imported from China.
"The drone developer is the Chinese model aircraft manufacturer Skywalker Technology Co., Ltd., which also produces fuselages and organizes supply components to Russia. The delivery comes via third-party companies," explained the Ukrainian Intelligence.
In addition:
- The drone`s controlled reception pattern antenna (CRPA) contains chips from Analog Devices and Texas Instruments (USA), as well as NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands).
- The universal flight controller has components from Texas Instruments, Atmel (USA), STMicroelectronics, U-Blox (Switzerland), NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands), and XLSEMI (China).
- For target guidance (FPV drone-style) and air surveillance, the Gerbera is equipped with a Chinese camera with a three-axis gimbal, Topotek KHY10S90, and a modem from Xingkai Tech Mesh Network XK-F358.
- China's Mile Hao Xiang Technology Co., Ltd has produced the UAV DLE60 engine. In the summer of 2024, the US sanctioned this company for supplying Russia.
Russia using UAVs in its war against Ukraine
Russian forces have been constantly using drones to attack Ukraine. For example, on November 17, during a missile and drone strike, Russia deployed 90 UAVs.
The Russians continuously attempt to overload Ukrainian air defense by using different types of UAVs. Recently, it was reported that Russia began using decoy drones during attacks on Ukraine. These drones also imitate the Shaheds.
Furthermore, Russia plans to initiate round-the-clock drone attacks.
