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Russia Has 10,000 Attack Drones Stockpiled—and Is Building 2,000 Jet-Powered Gerans a Month
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Russia is currently producing around 2,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet-powered attack drones per month while maintaining a stockpile of approximately 10,000 conventional piston-engine strike drones, RBC-Ukraine reported on October 1, citing sources within Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
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According to the outlet, Russia has been able to increase production of the newer Geran-4 and Geran-5 variants after discontinuing the earlier jet-powered Geran-3 and redirecting some of its components toward the newer models.
Further expansion of production, however, remains uncertain because of Russia’s dependence on turbojet engines. According to the report, most of these engines are supplied by China, while Russia is also attempting to establish domestic production.
At the same time, Russia has accumulated substantial reserves of conventional strike drones powered by piston engines. A source told RBC-Ukraine that the stockpile could have reached around 10,000 units as of last week.
During aerial attacks, Russian forces combine jet-powered and conventional gasoline-powered Shahed-type drones, launching them in small groups and successive waves. These formations typically consist of two or three drones, and occasionally four or five, with both types potentially used in the same group.
According to the report, the groups are launched one after another, extending attacks over several hours and forcing Ukrainian air defenses to repeatedly respond to new aerial targets.
One of the goals of this tactic is to maintain a prolonged aerial threat, exhaust Ukrainian air defenses, and force them to constantly respond to new targets, RBC-Ukraine reported.
The reported increase in drone production comes as Russia continues to expand infrastructure used to support its unmanned aerial operations. Over the past four weeks, the Tsymbulova drone base in the Oryol region has undergone further expansion, with new launch infrastructure, shelters, and storage facilities under construction, OSINT channel Strategic Aviation reported.
Satellite imagery reportedly shows a newly developed area southeast of the existing launch sites, featuring eight dome-shaped shelters intended for jet-powered drones and an additional launcher. According to Strategic Aviation, paved sites have also been prepared for eight more shelters and two additional launchers.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has been developing interceptor drones to counter the emerging threat from Russia’s jet-powered UAVs. On September 30, Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall told Ukrinform that its domestically produced P1-SUN JetKiller interceptor had shot down a Russian Geran-5.
The Geran-5 was downed by operators from Lasar’s Group, a Ukrainian National Guard unit specializing in unmanned systems, according to the outlet.
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