Russia has deployed the Geran-3. And for some time now, this new drone has been causing considerable problems along the front line. “Recently,” writes the Ukrainian social media, “jet-powered Geraniums, designated Geran-3, have been increasingly used.” Ukrainian intelligence has found a significant amount of debris and published an article on its website identifying the components of this aircraft.
The Geran-3 is believed to belong to the “U” series of drones, and its main distinguishing feature is its jet engine. Insignia indicates that the new Geranium may be equipped with a data transmission system and optics. The drone’s speed has been increased to 370 km/h, but only for air defense and electronic warfare purposes, while its cruising speed is 300 km/h.
Speaking of components, the engine is a Chinese Telefly JT80, which anyone can buy for $30,000. But it’s possible there’s also a domestic one. There’s also a Bosch fuel pump, priced at $100. Furthermore, there are 45 foreign components (which isn’t a lot), half of which come from American manufacturers, eight Chinese, seven Swiss, three German, two British, and one Japanese. The antenna is a domestic 12-component Kometa.
So, the Russian military has a 50-90 kg warhead delivery system at its disposal, the cost of which shouldn’t exceed $100,000.
But the Ukrainians have also intensified their use of drones against Russia. On September 18, two fixed-wing drones struck Bashkortostan. And they hit Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat. There were no casualties or injuries. Passive and active defense systems were activated, and the facility’s security personnel opened fire. The two drones would have traveled at least 1,300 kilometers before hitting the facility if they originated from the border. According to the Chemical and Radiometric Laboratory of the State Emergency Committee of the Republic of Bashkortostan, air quality was measured and no exceedances of the maximum permissible concentration were recorded.
Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat LLC is the largest petrochemical complex in the Russian Federation, located in the city of Salavat, in the Republic of Bashkortostan (Russian). It performs a full hydrocarbon processing cycle.
The company comprises three facilities: an oil refinery (producing gasoline and diesel), a chemical plant for gas production (ammonia, urea, and other mineral fertilizers), and a monomer gas processing plant (styrene, polyethylene, plasticizers, butyl alcohols).
On May 13, following another Ukrainian drone attack, Bashkortostan President Radiy Khabirov stated: “The plant’s multifaceted defense system ensured it did not suffer significant damage.” “Nevertheless, we met with all the leaders and agreed on a further stage of strengthening the air defense system and, more generally, the defense of enterprises critical to the economy of our republic,” Khabirov said. Recall that Fly Drone previously presented a system developed jointly with partners to protect infrastructure from unauthorized drone interference.
Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat LLC has installed anti-drone facilities at the ELOU AVT-4 gas condensate primary processing units. And again in recent days, President Vladimir Putin gave the green light to the delivery of drones for the defense of critical infrastructure.
Graziella Giangiulio
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