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Russia Reportedly Starts Using New Geran-5 Drone With Cruise Missile-Style Navigation
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Russian forces have reportedly begun using a new version of the Geran-5 attack drone equipped with an optical navigation system that allows it to navigate using reference images of terrain, according to the Ukrainian Telegram channel Polkovnyk HSh on September 27.
The modified version, identified as the Geran-5 K5, is fitted with an electro-optical DSMAC (Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation) module. The system compares images of the terrain below with stored reference imagery to determine the drone’s position and guide it along its route.
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According to Polkovnyk HSh, a similar navigation principle is used by Russia’s Kh-101 cruise missile. The Geran-5 K5 has also received a redesigned fuselage and reportedly flies faster than both the Geran-4 and the standard Geran-5.
Its higher speed has reportedly led to the new variant being mistaken for Dan-M-type missiles in some cases.
Militarnyi noted that a statement by Russian correspondent Andrei Filatov provided indirect evidence that autonomous optical navigation has been introduced on drones from the Geran family.
Citing Russian media outlet Gazeta.ru, Filatov claimed that Geran drones are already using an autonomous optical navigation system called “Susanin.” According to him, the system navigates by analyzing images of the ground, allowing a drone to continue along its route without relying on radio beacons.
However, the Russian source did not specify which Geran variant is equipped with the system and did not identify the technology as DSMAC, Militarnyi reported.
Geran-5 is a Russian strike unmanned aerial vehicle with a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 850 kilograms and a cruising speed of between 450 and 600 kilometers per hour, making it considerably faster than the Geran-3. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate estimates its flight endurance at around two hours and its maximum range at up to 950 kilometers.
The drone can reach an altitude of six kilometers, although its documented combat use has so far occurred at altitudes ranging from 200 meters to three kilometers.
The reported emergence of the K5 variant comes days after Ukrainian border guards intercepted and destroyed a Geran-5 on September 23. The drone was downed by operators from the 105th Separate Border Detachment, named after Prince Volodymyr the Great, according to ArmyInform.
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