Soon after Ukrainian media published photos of the DLE-60 engine remaining after the UAV "of unknown type" destroyed on the night of October 23rd, some russian sources shared information that it was either Italmas or Geran-3 explosive suicide drones.
There is no way yet to confirm or refute these claims, based on statements of russian military bloggers alone. The Ukrainian Air Force, meanwhile, said it was a very simplistic drone that could be produced "at any aeromodelling club."
Read more: New russian Wooden Drone: So Simple an Aeromodelling Club Can Make It, But No Less Dangerous
With no additional photos provided, it is too early to conclude that russian forces have already started to deploy their new wartime developments Italmas and Geran-3 but at least we should pay attention and break down, what are the products that russian bloggers are talking about.
Italmas, in particular, is known to have the DLE-60 engine. This UAV was developed by ZALA, a russian company specializing in reconnaissance unmanned systems. The first public appearance of Italmas dates September 2023, it was featured in a video report by local media.
The declared specifications are a flight range of 200 km and a warhead of 40 kg – that is bigger than the warhead of iranian Shahed-136 loitering munition.
There was only one drone shown last month that had been tested back in winter. Therefore, there is a chance this drone would be used in attacks on Ukraine but not systematically, for the sake of real combat testing. Depending on how it performs, the decision on mass production might be made.
As for Geran-3, there's even less information available. No photos were ever published, the first time it was publicly mentioned was in fall 2022. It was described as a smaller variant of the Geran-2, i.e. Shahed-136. The report was illustrated with a photo of a ZALA Kub drone.
On a side note, to avoid confusion we should also mention there is another smaller version of Geran-2, it is called Geran-1 and refers to the iranian Shahed-131 munition. Probably, the Geran-3 is just another name for Shahed-131 but with another engine – the original is powered by a mixed diesel reciprocating engine, while the DLE-60 is twin gasoline.
Read more: Not Only Shahed-136: a Detailed Study of Another Iranian Shahed-131 Kamikaze Drone Used by russia
