Russia Produces Around 3,000 Geran-4/5 Kamikaze Drones per Month

The Russian defense industry produces about 3,000 Geran-4/5 kamikaze drones per month, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) told Militarnyi in response to an inquiry.

The use of this type of drone is becoming increasingly widespread due to improvements in its flight performance, particularly for overcoming Ukraine’s air defenses.

Serial production of the Geran-4/5 has been established at a plant in Yelabuga, within the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan. Other Russian enterprises are also involved in the production process, supplying individual components and forming the corresponding production chain.

Despite the significant monthly production volume, Russia’s defense ministry is seeking to expand the production capacity of the facilities in Alabuga. In early July 2026, satellite imagery captured large-scale construction work at the special economic zone.

Construction of the new production facilities began in May 2026. The exact purpose of the new buildings is currently unknown, but their construction indicates preparations for further expansion of production capacity.

Back in June 2026, the then-Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that Russia planned to significantly increase its use of jet-powered strike drones during air attacks on Ukraine. According to him, the share of such drones could reach 50%.

New information provided by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) to Militarnyi confirms a trend toward increased Russian production of jet-powered variants of the Geran drone family.

At the same time, according to the agency, Russia has halted production of the Geran-3 jet-powered kamikaze drones.

Geran 4/5

The Geran-4 and Geran-5 kamikaze drones are among the newest members of Russia’s Geran family. Despite sharing the same designation, they differ significantly in design.

It is known that the Geran-4, based on the concept of the Geran-3 jet-powered UAV, features a fuselage optimized for flight at higher speeds and a more powerful engine.

The drone has a wingspan of about 3 meters and a length of 3.5 meters, matching the dimensions of the previous version. At the same time, its maximum takeoff weight has increased from 350 to 450 kilograms.

The Geran-4 is equipped with a turbojet engine producing 160 kgf of thrust — twice as much as the Chinese Telefly JT80 installed on the previous version. This has increased its cruising speed from 280–330 to 350–500 km/h and its flight range from 600 to 850 kilometers.

The drone can fly at altitudes ranging from 100 to 5,000 meters, with a flight endurance of around 2.5 hours and a minimum warhead weight of 50 kilograms.

The Geran-5 has a fundamentally different design. Its developers abandoned the aerodynamic configuration characteristic of previous models.

In terms of its fuselage shape, the new aircraft resembles a cruise missile more than it does Shahed-type drones with delta wings.

For this reason, it can be classified as a ‘missile-drone’ — a class of weaponry that is already being actively developed, particularly by Ukrainian manufacturers.

The Geran-5 carries a 90-kilogram warhead and has a declared strike range of around 1,000 kilometers. In addition to its main warhead, the aircraft can be fitted with R-73 air-to-air missiles equipped with infrared homing seekers.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine also notes that the Geran-5 can be launched from airborne platforms, including Su-25 attack aircraft.