Illustrative image.
Russia’s Africa Corps has began using Geran-type one-way attack drones against militants in Mali, according to videos that surfaced online on July 6.
The video shows what appears to be a Geran-2 drone flying over Anefis in northeastern Kidal region, followed by a blast near the town. Anefis has been under attack since July 4 by the separatist Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) as part of a large-scale offensive carried out in cooperation with the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
The Africa Corps and Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) have inflicted heavy losses on both groups, which have so far failed to make any meaningful gains.
The Geran-2, reportedly a version of Iran’s Shahed-136, is powered by a four-cylinder two-stroke gasoline engine. It typically has a range of up to 2,500 kilometers and can carry a warhead weighing up to 90 kilograms.
The drone features a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system but can also be equipped with an artificial intelligence-powered electro-optical targeting system with a two-way datalink.
The FLA and JNIM launched a similar offensive across Mali last April and managed to make some notable gains, particularly in Kidal, where they captured the region’s largest city. Since then, both the Africa Corps and the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) have been working to boost their capabilities, especially when it comes to drones.
The situation has now shifted completely. The current offensive has largely failed, with the FLA and JNIM suffering heavy losses — most of them caused by fiber-optic-guided first-person view (FPV) suicide quadcopters and Lancet loitering munitions.
The introduction of Geran-2 one-way attack drones will further complicate the situation for the two groups, which are no longer safe anywhere in Mali.
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