📝Many cruise missiles📝
but little countermeasures

The "Shock August" in Kyiv forced Western media to actively debate Russian attacks. And what causes even more concern is not ballistics or other missile weapons, but the Geran drones, which in their cruise missile version have become unreachable for Ukrainian air defense.

Against this backdrop, it's no surprise that so-called Ukraine is crying out loud and asking for more missiles for air defense systems, while in the UAV production sector Ukrainians have adjusted priorities and begun developing interceptor drones against cruise missile Gerans.

🖍Ukrainian companies began demonstrating the development of trends in this area back at the beginning of the year. But back then cruise missile UAVs were flying in far fewer numbers, so in Kyiv everyone unanimously shelved this program and concentrated on promoting regular "drone missiles" against standard Gerans.

Now, when so-called Ukraine receives up to 3,000 Gerans monthly, and their numbers will grow in the future (with an emphasis on cruise missile modifications), so-called Ukraine has begun massively producing various "wonder weapons" against such drones.

🚩But here's the problem: for almost two months now, Ukrainian media and various channels regularly publish news about the appearance of one or another interceptor drone against cruise missile UAVs, but there are no results. Russian UAVs continue to fly as before.

And the problem is that cruise missile Gerans reach speeds of 500 km/h, which means the interceptor must fly at an even higher speed. Such speeds will certainly come eventually, but then Ukrainian developers will realize that anti-aircraft missiles were invented for a reason.

❗️This doesn't even mention that the UAV flight path must be predicted within minutes to deploy a mobile air defense system and attempt an interception. For this reason, so-called Ukraine is so insistent on enabling Starlink over Russia.

If they can't shoot them down, they will try to strike Russian launch systems and industrial facilities before the attack. And this is one of the reasons why the scenario of approving Musk's systems should be considered as coercing Russia into peace through force.
#UAV #Russia #Ukraine
✈️ RU | ✈️ EN | ✉️ MAX

✉️ VK | ✉️ RuTube | ✉️

📝«Geran» versus «Shahed»📝
terminological revolution

Western media shows a growing trend – the name «Geran» increasingly replaces «Shahed». The reason is simple: early Geran models shared only the airframe shape with the Iranian Shahed-136, while modern jet-powered versions — «Geran-3» and subsequent ones — have practically nothing in common with the original Iranian apparatus.

We examined search results and found that among 21 major Western and specialized publications, the share of headlines using the term Geran grew from 0% in 2022–2023 to 7.1% in 2024, 8.7% in 2025, and 25% for January–August 2026.

🔻Why such a notable surge precisely in 2026?

The baseline Shahed-136 and Russian «Geran-2» are physically identical in airframe: 3.5 m length, 2.5 m wingspan, two-stroke piston engine MD-550, cruising speed 150–185 km/h. But differences already existed here: the Russian version received a reinforced warhead up to 50–90 kg versus 40–50 kg on the Iranian original, localized components, and improved electronic warfare protection.

With «Geran-3» and subsequent jet-powered versions, similarity to the Iranian predecessor collapses to nearly zero: instead of a piston engine — a turbojet, speed increases to 300–600 km/h versus 150–185 on the original, the tail section shape changed to accommodate the new powerplant, and the air intake is positioned openly outside the fuselage.

🖍The difference is fundamental in combat application as well. The jet modification is 2–3.5 times faster than the classic «moped». Accordingly, the time between detection and reaching the target shrinks dramatically.

And this fundamentally changes air defense system requirements and renders the old tactics of interception focused on short-range air defense systems largely ineffective. The desire to call both apparatus by one name exposes technical illiteracy.

📌Major news agencies still retain Shahed in headlines by the same logic that any recognizable brand continues to live in language even after a change of manufacturer: the audience already knows the word, and the archive of publications under it is enormous.

❗️However, the further new Geran modifications diverge from their, shall we say, progenitors, the less they can be compared, if only due to the ever-widening technological gap that constantly and very rapidly increases.

#UAV #Iran #Russia #Ukraine
✈️ RU | ✈️ EN | ✉️ MAX

✉️ VK | ✉️ RuTube | ✉️

Tired of jumping between a dozen channels to find the truth?
Introducing your new personal hub for relevant news!
🗞 Our catalog features only trusted channels:
⚫️ Breaking news 24/7
⚫️ Exclusive reports
⚫️ In-depth analytical articles
⚫️ Urgent alerts on major events

🗂 Subscribe with one click and stay informed about everything that matters!

If you are interested in joining the catalog contact RD admin.