“They have foreign electronics”: this is what the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said, revealing the components of the base of the Russian decoy “Gerbera”, simulating “Geranium”. The drone can carry a warhead as a loitering munition and conduct electronic reconnaissance, in particular, to identify air defense positions and register hits from other attack drones. This UAV imitates Geranium and is used en masse by Russia to overload Ukrainian air defenses.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine stated that “Gerbera” is made of simple materials: plywood and foam plastic, and therefore is dozens of times cheaper than “Geranium”. A number of components from foreign manufacturers were also found in the UAV.
But Kiev also makes extensive use of foreign material. The first EA-37B electronic warfare aircraft has arrived in Manchester after flying from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. It is not excluded that the work of these drones is close to the Russian borders. Also from London comes the news of unidentified drones spotted on three British Royal Air Force air bases, also used by the US armed forces, The Guardian reports, citing a representative of the US Armed Forces Europe command.
The “small unmanned aerial vehicles” flew from November 20 to 22 over the Lakenheath and Mildenhall bases in Suffolk, eastern England, and near the Feltwell base in Norfolk. According to a US Air Force spokesman, it is not yet clear “whether these UAVs should be considered hostile”.
And according to the Algerian MenaDefense, France is making attempts to organize the production of Colibri and Larinae kamikaze drones, developed by the Franco-German defense company KNDS, in Ukraine, with their subsequent export, including to Armenia.
Since July 2024, French defense companies, together with the Ukrainian company Ukraine Special Systems, have started the production in Ukraine of a wide range of UAVs, including Colibri and Larinae, as well as their components. The launch sites have been chosen as the Ukrainian company’s factories in the Kiev and Kharkiv regions. The project is financed by French military aid funds allocated to Kiev.
In the future, Paris intends to organize large-scale supplies of Colibri and Larinae produced in Ukraine to Armenia. A test batch of UAVs was reportedly already shipped to Armenia this fall. To increase the potential effectiveness of the use of kamikaze drones against the Azerbaijani army, at the suggestion of the French, operators of this type of UAVs who have gained experience in their use during the war with Russia will be involved.
Also in favor of Ukraine, it is learned that Lithuania will finance the production of Ukrainian long-range UAVs, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported. As part of a long-term agreement, the states agreed on a first tranche of 10 million euros: Vilnius will use these funds for the production of Ukrainian long-range weapons, in particular for the Palyanitsa project.
Graziella Giangiulio
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