Susanin optical correlation system

Susanin is an electro-optical correlation system: a camera looks at the ground and a computer compares the picture with reference images stored before launch, so the drone can follow its route without satellite signals. HUR War & Sanctions recorded it in the October 2026 Geran-4, and HUR said a similar system is used on the Geran-5 K5 (Interfax-Ukraine).

The name had appeared earlier: Militarnyi quoted a Russian military correspondent saying Geran drones already used an optical navigation system called Susanin. How it works inside, and what it runs, has not been published.

On 10 October 2026 Serhii Beskrestnov wrote that a system of this kind, “based on the Susanin flight controller”, had recently been found on the Geran-4 and Geran-5 (Telegram). For basic orientation, he says, ordinary satellite pictures of the ground, even Google’s, are enough, and a drone that navigates by terrain images is not affected by jamming. The case he published carries a sticker reading “1.3.6 Сусанин”; a label on a recovered Geran-5 K5 unit, photographed by the Ukrainian channel Colonel GSh, reads “Блок FCU Г5 K5-K Сусанин”. UNN reports that the system works better by day than at night.