Geran-2E drone: Russia's drone with Verba missile mainly threatens civil aviation

Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (DIU) has published information on the Geran-2E drone, the latest variant of Russia's Geran drones – on the portal “War & Sanctions” in the category “Weapon systems”, section “Weapon components”. The design is based on the Geran-2 drone and is designated the “E” series. Its most striking feature sits on its back: a man-portable air defence system (MANPADS, -> Small missiles with a big impact: what are MANPADS?) of the type 9K333 Verba, the latest Russian generation.

Camera and target tracking from China

The nose of the drone houses a three-axis stabilised electro-optical and infrared camera, the Honpho TS130C-01 from China. The gimballed unit weighs 1.26 kilograms and records daylight video in HD; it detects at up to 15 kilometres and recognises vehicles at eight kilometres. For the infrared sensor, the figures are 4.2 kilometres and one kilometre respectively. The package is complemented by a laser rangefinder with a range of up to four kilometres. According to the manufacturer, the camera offers search, tracking and guidance modes, among others.

Civilian networks as control channel

The DIU states that “the use of this modification requires manual real-time control by an operator”. For this purpose, the drone carries an XK-F358 mesh modem made by Xingkay Tech in the PRC. It transmits in the UHF, L and S bands and in the C band between 350 MHz and 6,000 MHz and transfers data at up to 100 Mbps/20MHz and 180 Mbps/40MHz.

The device enables mobile communication even at more than 800 km/h. In mesh networks it has no upper limit on the number of hops; network access, updating and switching each take less than one second.

This means the system can be controlled, for example, via open Wi-Fi networks, via 4G LTE mobile networks or via satellite. In the Geran-2, this includes a Raspberry PI 4 Model microcomputer, a USB modem for 3G/4G, a flight controller, an inertial navigation system and a 12-channel “Kometa” receiver for the global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

Geran-2E carries a Verba air defence missile

Mounted on the Geran-2E is the shoulder-fired 9K333 air defence missile, known in NATO as SA-29 Gizmo. It was developed from the older Igla-S series and is currently the most modern Russian system of its kind. Its strengths are better target recognition and greater resistance to countermeasures. Three sensors work in the multispectral optical seeker: ultraviolet, near-infrared and mid-infrared. This should let the missile better distinguish targets from decoys or other countermeasures, which also reduces the risk of being diverted. According to the manufacturer, the 9K333 also engages air targets with a low infrared signature effectively.

Fired from the ground, the weapon has an effective range of up to around 6.5 kilometres and a maximum altitude of 4.5 kilometres. It weighs 17.25 kilograms.

How the missile is triggered

Once the operator has acquired an air target, he activates two servomechanisms in sequence. The first starts the chemical battery and the nitrogen cooling system of the MANPADS seeker. The second opens a specially developed protective cover as soon as the seeker has reached the required temperature. According to the DIU, a cable tie keeps the missile's trigger permanently pressed; as soon as the seeker locks onto a target, the missile therefore launches immediately and automatically.

Even after firing the MANPADS missile, the drone probably remains dangerous: in addition to the Verba, the examined specimen carried a full-fledged thermobaric primary warhead.

Threat assessment

From the Ukrainian perspective, Russia is using the drone to respond to the successful operations of the Ukrainian Air Force and army aviation against enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Russia is thus actively working to convert its unmanned flying platforms for engaging air targets.

As currently built, the Geran-2E in any case threatens every aircraft that comes within its range. Via its communications equipment, it can be controlled by satellite as well as via local civilian networks. The operator searches for targets within the sensor range of the Honpho camera. For successful target acquisition, however, the drone must fly directly towards the detected target, because MANPADS lock on by being pointed directly at the target.

Experienced military pilots can therefore adjust their approach or evade the drone's manoeuvres relatively easily. The Geran-2 can change course and altitude, but only within narrow limits. In any case, the drone cannot perform the roll, pitch and yaw manoeuvres that the dynamics of air combat demand.

Danger to airliners

Aircraft and pilots unable to fly such evasive manoeuvres, such as civil aircraft, are, by contrast, seriously threatened. The system should therefore be seen less as a military weapon and much more as a potential terror weapon.

Because the Geran-2 can potentially fly more than 1,000 kilometres, it cannot be ruled out that civil aviation across large parts of Europe is at risk. Civil aircraft taking off or landing near airports are particularly exposed. Aircraft at cruising altitude, on the other hand, cannot be endangered by the Geran-2E in this way.

Worldwide, civil aircraft have been attacked with shoulder-fired MANPADS air defence missiles more than 40 times since the 1970s. 28 aircraft crashed and more than 800 passengers were killed.

On 17 July 2014, pro-Russian separatists over eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur – with a Russian Buk missile system (NATO code: SA-11 Gadfly) provided by Russia. None of the 298 people on board survived. The shootdown is considered one of the gravest war crimes linked to the Ukraine conflict. Three men, two Russians and one Ukrainian, were convicted by a Dutch court in 2022 for their involvement.

In December 2024, a Pantsir-S1 missile of the Russian air defence hit Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to Grozny. Badly damaged, the aircraft crashed in Kazakhstan while attempting an emergency landing; 38 of the 67 people on board died.