Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a US government-funded international news organization, has released a new report on the teardown of a mostly intact Russian Geran-4 “Seeker” turbojet drone, revealing what makes these new one-way attack drones deadlier than the older piston-powered Geran-2s.
We first detailed the new 300 mph Geran-4 in a report earlier this summer titled "Drone War Enters Terrifying New Phase As Russia Deploys 300-MPH Jet-Powered Shahed."
Drone warfare is evolving so quickly, and it is truly terrifying, as these new drones are much faster, fly at higher altitudes, and can evade conventional air defense systems, as demonstrated in Ukraine right now.
RFE/RL analysts got their hands on one of these new drones, conducted a complete teardown, and inspected its components. They found many foreign-made components, much of which came from China.
The teardown also revealed that the jet's brain used Texas Instruments chips (markings scraped off, logos still readable).
Here's what they found:
- Chinese mesh modem: radio + live video out to ~300 km, and it can relay so one Geran hands the link to the next.
- Operators can sit in Bryansk, Oryol, or Crimea and fly it all the way in if the mesh
