At the beginning of July 2023, after one of the night occupiers attacks by Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones, it became known that the russians have begun using a "new type" of these UAVs against Ukraine.
They were assembled or entirely produced on the russia territory.
Read more: Shahed-136 Drones Raises Concerns As They Might Be Manufactured or Assembled in russia
It was established after the combat components examining of these UAVs.
Recently, Defense Express received a series of photos from their own sources, which allow to analysy their differences. We compared the "new" presumably russian-made strike drone (named "Geran-2" for convenience) and the iranian model (named Shahed).
The first thing to pay attention to is new markings of "Geran-2" (previously, there was a widely circulated photo with the antypical designation letter "М"). You can see it in the photo below. It differs from the markings of the Shahed with the letter "K."
Regarding the main differences, a series of changes are in the "new" kamikaze drone pertain body. The "Geran-2" kamikaze drone images analysis shows that the new version has different body. It consists of interconnected elements. At the same time, Shahed was a whole.
On one of the tail fragments of the "new" "Geran-2" kamikaze drone (photo above), there are openings for connecting parts of this UAV, which were absent in the "old" version.
These kamikaze drones also have a new type of material. In the old Shahed, it was printed "honeycomb," while in the new "Geran-2," they resemble "foam."
The new "Geran-2" has also received a new warhead. It is marked by Cyrillic instead of Latin and equipped with tungsten pellets.
The "Geran-2" UAV battery was also changed. Previously, it was Li-Ion 18650 batteries. In the "new" drone, it is a gel-based battery from the russian Delta Battery company.
The "new" "Geran-2" is also equipped with "Kometa" block. It provides protection against EW, which was not used in the Shahed before.
Based on these facts, Defense Express believes that russia has begun indeed use domestically produced kamikaze drones with own components for strikes against Ukraine. But currently it is unclear these individual drones are prototypes or serial production results.
It is necessity to note that Russia is already working on deploying production of kamikaze drones based on the Iranian Shahed.
As Defense Express reported, The UK Defense Intelligence Discovered the Route for Large Deliveries of Iranian Kamikaze Drones to russia.
Read more: Difference Between Older Shahed-136 and New Batch Revealed by Ukrainian Trophy Researchers
