Illustrative image.
Russia is moving toward producing more than 6,000 Geran-type drones each month, CNN reported on August 22, citing Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.
Three versions of the Geran, which are alleged to be copies of the Iranian-made Shahed-131, 136 and 238 suicide drones, are currently in production in Russia.
CNN said that the drones are getting cheaper to produce t inside Russia compared to earlier, when Moscow was allegedly purchasing them from Tehran.
“In 2022, Russia paid an average of $200,000 for one such drone,” a Ukrainian Defense Intelligence source told the news network. “In 2025, that number came down to approximately $70,000,” due to the large-scale production at the Alabuga drone factory in Russia’s Tatarstan region.
The Geran-1 and 2 are both pusher-propelled. The first has a range of 900 kilometers with a warhead weighing 15 kg, while the second has a range of 2,500 kilometers with a warhead weighing 50 kg. Meanwhile, the Geran-3, which is propelled by a turbojet engine, is reported to have a top range of 2,500 kilometers. It can also carry a warhead weighing as much as 90 kg.
All three versions of the Geran are typically guided via the same jamming-resistance GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system.
Recently, Russia has been experimenting with loitering munition versions of the Geran, some even equipped with artificial intelligence-capable electro-optical targeting systems. A version especially modified to deploy anti-tank mines was also reported.
CNN’s latest report is not surprising. Just last month, the German Ministry of Defense said that Russia significantly expanded the production of the Geran and was planning to launch up to 2,000 such drones simultaneously against targets in Ukraine.
With the rapid increase in production, the Russian military shifted its approach to deploying Geran drones in recent months, expanding their operational scope beyond deep strikes into more tactical frontline engagements.
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i commented on this on another web news platform and the its the larger turbojet version that worries the usa/ukraine in how russia was able to produce a compact turbo jet into a small aerial vehicle without upsetting delicate sensors with heat or vibration .
dite che non hanno soldati invece li hanno e non riuscite a prendere sumy, prokrosk, karkiv,kyiv,odessa come la mettiamo dovete sfondare e non parlare.
70k per unit is not so cheap
not so many industrial robots to be seen in the alabuga presentation. not a single one to be precise. so there is potential for more and cheaper. russia could do the germans a favor and employ robots by kuka, which the chinese bought off a few years ago.
i produce 1 used condom per month