Russian Forces Begin Using New Geran-5 Version With Autonomous Optical Navigation

Russian forces have begun using a new modification of the Geran-5 jet-powered UAV, which features an autonomous optical navigation system and a modified fuselage design.

The monitoring channel Colonel GSh reported this, referring to the new version as the Geran-5 K5.

According to the channel, the UAV is equipped with an electro-optical correction system that allows it to navigate using images of the ground surface.

Its operating principle is similar to that of OEKС (DSMAC) systems, which use terrain image matching for navigation and allow the flight path to be corrected without satellite navigation.

The new version also has a higher speed than the standard model. As a result, it may be mistakenly identified in flight as other jet-powered strike assets, including the Dan-T.

At the same time, the K5 designation and the installation of a DSMAC-class system have not been officially confirmed by Ukrainian sources.

An indirect indication that autonomous optical navigation has appeared on Russian Geran-series drones came from a statement by Russian military correspondent Andrei Filatov. He said that Russian drones of this series already use an autonomous optical navigation system called Susanin.

Filatov claims that the system navigates using images of the underlying terrain, allowing the UAV to continue along its route without radio beacons.

However, the Russian source does not specify which Geran modification is equipped with the system and does not identify it as DSMAC.

Geran-5

According to official data from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, the baseline Geran-5 is 6.5 meters long, has a wingspan of 3.2 meters and a maximum takeoff weight of up to 850 kilograms.

It is equipped with a warhead weighing about 90 kilograms, has a cruising speed of 450–600 km/h, a range of about 950 kilometers and can reach an altitude of up to 6 kilometers.

The Geran-5 examined by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence was found to contain a Kometa-M12 jam-resistant satellite navigation system, an inertial navigation system, a tracker with cellular modems, a mesh modem and a Chinese TELEFLY TF-TJ2000A turbojet engine. The current public list of components maintained by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence does not include a separate DSMAC system.

Russia is known to have already modified the Geran-5’s design by moving the turbojet engine inside the fuselage from an external nacelle, reducing aerodynamic drag and potentially increasing the UAV’s speed and flight range.