Russia Deploys the New Geran-5 Jet Strike Drone in Ukraine in Its First Combat Use.

Ukrainian military intelligence says Russia has conducted the first combat use of a new jet-powered long-range strike drone known as Geran-5 during air attacks in January 2026. The system signals a shift toward faster, heavier UAVs derived from Iranian design concepts, complicating Ukraine’s air defense and electronic warfare response.

Ukrainian intelligence officials say Russian forces have begun combat operations with a previously unseen long-range strike drone, marking a notable evolution in Moscow’s unmanned attack arsenal. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, the jet-powered UAV designated Geran-5 was employed during combined air attacks in mid-January, with early analysis suggesting foreign design influence and expanded strike capabilities compared to earlier Geran variants.
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Russia's Geran-5 is a jet-powered long-range strike drone assessed by Ukrainian intelligence as a derivative of Iran's Karrar UAV, featuring a conventionnal fixed-wing layout, an estimated 1,000 km range, a 90 kg warhead, jam-resistant satellite navigation, and potential options for air launch from Su-25 aircraft and experimental carriage of short-range air-to-air missiles (Picture source: Open source).

HUR describes Geran-5 as a relatively large, fixed-wing vehicle about 6 meters long with a wingspan up to 5.5 meters, carrying a warhead of roughly 90 kg and advertised for a strike range of around 1,000 km. Unlike the earlier Geran-2 family associated with Iranian Shahed-style flying-wing layouts, the new drone uses a conventional aerodynamic configuration, a change that typically supports higher dash speed, better high-altitude handling, and a more forgiving integration path for external stores or sensors. HUR also stresses that many subsystems remain unified with other Geran models, indicating an evolutionary design built for scalable production rather than a one-off prototype.

At the heart of that evolution is propulsion: the agency identifies a Telefly turbojet similar to the powerplant used on Geran-3, but with greater thrust, aligning with the airframe’s larger dimensions and heavier payload class. Telefly engines are Chinese-manufactured and have appeared on other Russian jet UAVs, reportedly obtainable on the civilian market, which helps explain how Russia continues to field “new” drones despite sanctions pressure. In parallel, the electronic architecture described by HUR is familiar: a 12-channel Kometa satellite navigation unit, a tracker built around a Raspberry Pi-type microcomputer, and 3G and 4G modems. Kometa is assessed as a specialised navigation module designed to resist jamming, a critical attribute given Ukraine’s heavy reliance on electronic warfare against long-range drones.

Geran-5 appears tailored for the same combined-strike playbook Russia has refined since 2022, but with a sharper edge. A jet-powered drone compresses the defender’s timeline, forcing faster detection, classification, and engagement. Gun-based mobile fire groups, a backbone of Ukraine’s air defense, have fewer seconds to react. HUR’s note that Russia is exploring airborne launch from Su-25 attack aircraft hints at a tactical concept aimed at pushing release points closer to the front line, extending effective reach while reducing fuel demands, and complicating Ukrainian early-warning geometry.

The most controversial element in the Ukrainian assessment is the claim that Russia is considering fitting Geran-5 with R-73 short-range air-to-air missiles. If pursued, this would represent an attempt to transform a one-way strike drone into a limited counter-air platform capable of threatening Ukrainian helicopters or low-flying aircraft. While such a role raises technical challenges in seeker cueing and launch dynamics on an expendable platform, it would nevertheless force Ukrainian planners to treat some drones not only as strike threats but as potential airborne ambush systems along predictable aviation routes.

Ukrainian intelligence argues that Geran-5 cannot be considered a purely indigenous Russian development. Investigators report significant structural and technological similarities with Iran’s Karrar jet-powered UAV, a system Tehran has long marketed as a high-speed strike and interceptor-capable platform. Iran has previously demonstrated Karrar in missile-armed configurations, making Russia’s exploration of an air-to-air role appear less speculative and more a case of adapting an existing foreign design concept to local production and operational needs.

On the defensive side, Ukraine continues to rely on a layered counter-drone system that has evolved under combat pressure. Air defense fighters, surface-to-air missile units, electronic warfare assets, UAV units, and mobile fire groups are integrated into a single engagement framework. Jet-powered drones like Geran-5 stress this system, but jamming, small-arms fire from mobile teams, and selective missile use remain effective when coordinated. Ukraine is also accelerating the fielding of interceptor drones and expanding the number of trained crews and sensors, aiming to impose asymmetric costs on Russia’s expanding UAV arsenal.

HUR confirms that recovered Geran-5 wreckage is now undergoing detailed forensic analysis and that a comprehensive breakdown of its design, components, and supply chains will be published through War&Sanctions. For Army Recognition readers, the significance of Geran-5 lies less in its name than in what it represents: a clear Russian shift toward faster, longer-range, jet-powered unmanned strike systems derived from Iranian design logic, adapted for mass use, and increasingly integrated into complex, multi-domain attack packages.