Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence reveals how Russia is upgrading Shaheds and other attack drones – photos
Pravda Ukraine
Since early 2025, Ukrainian specialists have recorded several significant changes in the Russian-modified versions of Iran’s Shahed-136 strike drones – Geran and Garpiya.
Source: War&Sanctions portal within Defence Intelligence of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence
Details: The experts say that the modifications include:
- a new warhead weighing 90 kg;
- a flight controller, power distribution unit and battery relocated from the nose to the tail section;
- additional ballast integrated into the UAV’s structure.
An anti-interference eight-channel CRP satellite navigation antenna with a circular arrangement of peripheral patch antennas was found with a sticker marked in Chinese and English reading “Agricultural equipment parts”, along with a serial number indicating production in 2024. [Controlled reception pattern antennas (CRP) are active antennas that are designed to resist radio jamming and spoofing – ed.]
The manufacturing method and colour of this antennae match other components of the Shahed drones of the Ы [I:] series, produced by Iran and Russia. The sticker was likely placed to mislead about the true origin and purpose of the CRP antenna.
Russian forces are increasingly using Chinese-made components as alternatives to parts from the US, EU and other countries. Intelligence reports indicate that in the latest versions of the Shahed-136 UAVs, the Russians have replaced the US-made XILINX Kintex-7 programmable logic chip – critical for the CRP antenna – with an integrated circuit manufactured by Beijing Microelectronics Technology, China.
Drones produced at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone have received a new Ъ [‘] series alongside the existing Ы series.
Meanwhile, UAVs manufactured at the Kupol electromechanical plant in the city of Izhevsk, Russia, have received a “KЦ” [KTS] series in addition to the previous “K” and “KБ” [KB] series.
There is information that, in addition to the eight-channel Kometa M8 antennas, Russia has begun using new domestically produced 12-channel Kometa CRP antennas.
To record and transmit footage of their targets, Russian forces use one-time Telegram bots, Raspberry Pi microcomputers, webcams, and 3G/LTE modems.
The Gerbera drones produced at the Alabuga plant, previously used for decoy purposes, are now being equipped with high-explosive fragmentation warheads manufactured by the Bazalt weapons manufacturing company and KZ-6 engineering charges. The warheads are activated using a detonator connected to the flight controller via a RUICHI SSR-10DD solid-state relay.
In addition, Russia is establishing production of an analogue to the Shahed-238 jet-powered drone – the Geran-3. It features a compact Tolou-10/13 twin-spool turbofan engine, enabling flight speeds of 550–600 km/h and a range of 2,500 km.
Information on foreign technologies aiding Russia in producing weapons for its criminal war against Ukraine is updated weekly on the War&Sanctions portal. The database already contains details on 4,400 identified components used in Russian weaponry, as well as more than 140 UAV models and 88 companies involved in their production.
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