What the Geran-5 is made of

Leading A powered carriage (catapult) accelerates the drone along the rail and drops away after release.

• Claimed for 2026-05-09

  “На кадрах дрон, напоминающий крылатую ракету, стартует с длинной направляющей, после чего от него отделяется разгонная тележка.”

  In the footage the drone, resembling a cruise missile, starts from a long guide rail, after which the acceleration trolley separates from it.

  A Russian outlet describing the Defence Ministry's own footage.

  www1.ru, after Rossiyskaya Gazeta ↗

• Claimed for 2026-05-09

  “Росія вперше показала ударний реактивний безпілотник «Герань-5» та його пуск із катапульти.”

  Russia has shown the Geran-5 jet strike drone, and its launch from a catapult, for the first time.

  Militarnyi ↗

• Claimed for 2026-04-23

  “the launch system for this type of drone is about 80 meters long”

  The channel says the 80 m launchers serve the jet Geran-3/4 and Geran-5 and are about three times the size of the launchers for ordinary drones.

  Militarnyi, citing the Strategic Aviation channel ↗

• Inference for

  Frame-by-frame reading of the 9 May clip (OTS LIVE, 60 frames a second). Before launch the drone sits on a black V-legged carriage on a grey sled, held by a strut and chain under the rear fuselage (a hold-back, typical of catapults); no cylinder hangs under the fuselage. At release there is no flame or smoke column, only sparks along the rail top as the carriage runs. From standstill the drone covers about 4 m in about 0.35 s (scale: the 6.5 m fuselage spans about 340 pixels): a = 2s/t² = 2 × 4 / 0.35² ≈ 65 m/s², about 6.7 g. At the far end the carriage is still under the drone as it leaves the rail and tumbles away 0.2–0.4 s later. A long flanged tube runs under the whole rail, which would fit a pneumatic or gas-driven catapult; it could also be part of the structure.

• Inference for

  Exit speed needed. Wing area: 3.2 m span × an estimated 0.45–0.6 m chord ≈ 1.4–1.9 m². Stall speed Vs = √(2mg / ρ·S·CL); with m = 850 kg, ρ = 1.225 kg/m³, S = 1.6 m² and CL = 1.3, Vs = √(2 × 850 × 9.81 / (1.225 × 1.6 × 1.3)) ≈ 81 m/s; over the full range of S and CL (1.2–1.4) 72–90 m/s. Over an 80 m rail (v² = 2as) that takes 31–51 m/s² (3–5 g) for 1.8–2.3 s: a push of 26–43 kN on 850 kg and 59–77 kN·s of impulse. The turbojet gives 1.96 kN, about 4–6% of it. The measured 4–7 g at the start is of the same order. A carriage has to do all of this before the rail ends; an on-board booster would not need a rail this long.

Would fit: Pneumatic or gas-pressure rail catapult; Rocket-propelled launch sled

Possible A jettisonable solid rocket booster under the rear fuselage, as on the Shahed-136 and Karrar.

• Official claim for

  “Стартовий двигун”

  Launch engine

  HUR lists it as a separate module of the Geran-5, with no type, maker or photo. On its Kalibr, Zircon and Iskander records the same term names a rocket booster.

  HUR War & Sanctions ↗

• Claimed for 2026-01-19

  “Den Experten zufolge kann Geran-5 mit einem Feststoffraketenbooster vom Boden aus gestartet werden”

  According to the experts, the Geran-5 can be launched from the ground with a solid-fuel rocket booster.

  Israeli analysts, writing before any launch footage existed.

  Defence Network (Arie Egozi) ↗

• Inference for

  HUR’s 3D model of the Geran-5 (published January 2026) draws a second cylinder on struts under the rear fuselage, below the turbojet pod, where a Shahed carries its booster.

  source ↗

• Inference against

  The drone on the 9 May launcher has no cylinder under its rear fuselage, and the start shows no rocket plume. A booster large enough would be heavy: 59–77 kN·s at a specific impulse of 200–230 s takes 59,000 / (220 × 9.81) to 77,000 / (220 × 9.81) ≈ 27–36 kg of propellant, a motor of roughly 50–70 kg delivering 30–50 kN for about 2 s.

Would fit: Solid rocket booster of the Shahed-136 / Geran-2 type

Leading The Geran-5 itself carries no strike camera; strike video comes from a second drone flying as a relay.

• Claimed for 2026-09-27

  “Він виконував функцію МЕШ ретранслятора радіосигналів для «Герань-5» і водночас знімав (та одразу передавав) відео атаки”

  It worked as a mesh relay of radio signals for the Geran-5 and at the same time filmed (and immediately transmitted) video of the attack.

  Beskrestnov, an adviser on radio technology to Ukraine's defence minister, on the second jet drone over the Inkom strike.

  Telegram channel:Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov ↗

• Inference for

  HUR’s Geran-5 record of 19 January 2026 lists 16 modules and components; none is a camera, a lens or a video board. HUR does list a camera when it finds one: the Honpho TS130C-01 in the August 2026 Geran-4, an IP camera in the Geran-2 with R-60 missiles, a gimbal camera in the Gerbera.

  source ↗

• Claimed against

  “Дополнительно они осуществляют видеофиксацию поражения объектов, что позволяет проводить объективную оценку результатов удара в реальном времени”

  In addition they film the hits, which allows an objective assessment of the strike results in real time.

  A Russian claim; it does not say which drone holds the camera, so it fits the two-drone account as well.

  Telegram channel:Victory Drones, relaying a Russian claim ↗

Possible The K5 and K5-K carry a camera, but as the eye of the Susanin navigation system, not for strike video.

• Official claim for 2026-10-05

  “Аналогічна система також використовується на нових БпЛА “Герань-5” версії К5.”

  A similar system is also used on the new Geran-5 drones of the K5 version.

  Said of the optical-electronic correlation system HUR found in the updated Geran-4, which compares images from an optical sensor with reference images.

  Telegram channel:Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) ↗

• Claimed for 2026-10-22

  “Особливістю ракети є система оптичної навігації, збільшена дальність, швидкість і висота польоту.”

  The missile's distinguishing features are an optical navigation system and greater range, speed and altitude.

  On the "Geran-5 K5-K".

  Telegram channel:Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov ↗

Unlikely A camera on the Geran-5 streams video over the XK-F358 mesh radio through its Ethernet port.

• Official claim for

  “RTL8201F”

  A Realtek 10/100 Ethernet controller on board 2 of the XK-F358 found in a Gerbera, with a Pulse H0013NL Ethernet transformer on board 1 (HUR component 5415). The radio has a real Ethernet port.

  HUR War & Sanctions (Gerbera) ↗

• Official claim for

  “Probably Hikvision DS-2CD1343G2-LIUF”

  The camera of the Geran-2 version that carries an R-60 missile, which also carries an XK-F358 (HUR part 5066). The Hikvision model is a network camera with an Ethernet (PoE) connection — the pattern a camera-over-mesh build would use.

  HUR War & Sanctions (Geran-2 with R-60) ↗

• Official claim for

  “支持数据传输：高清视频、文件传输、IP数据传输等；”

  Supports data transmission: HD video, file transfer, IP data transmission, etc.

  The same page lists one Ethernet port (ETH*1) among the data interfaces.

  Xingkai Technology (maker's page, XK-F359) ↗

• Inference for

  The front panel of the Geran-5 unit has no RJ45 socket: its only data connector is a two-row J30J-25-type “PWR/DATA” plug (about 25 contacts at 1.27 mm pitch, measured against the 12.7 mm SMA flanges; the maker marks the same connector “J30J-25ZKP” in its own photos). Ethernet, power and serial lines would all run through that one plug and a breakout harness, so any IP camera would sit on the harness, out of sight in a photo of the radio alone.

• Inference against

  In HUR’s October 2026 list for the updated Geran-4 — the airframe whose Susanin system HUR says the K5 shares — the interfaces around the flight controller are serial and CAN (a CH343G USB-to-serial bridge, VP230 and MCP2542 CAN transceivers, a MAX3232 RS-232 driver), and there is no Ethernet controller, transformer or camera row. A navigation camera there most likely reports position corrections over serial or CAN, not video over Ethernet. HUR adds that the other units are unchanged from earlier Gerans, so this is not conclusive.

  source ↗

Would fit: Hikvision DS-2CD1343G2-LIUF; Honpho TS130C-01

Leading The maker’s default band, 1,300–1,500 MHz.

• Official claim for

  “1300-1500MHz（70MHz~6GHz可定制）”

  1,300–1,500 MHz (70 MHz to 6 GHz to order)

  The working frequency the maker lists; the same figure is on its XK-F358 page.

  Xingkai Technology (maker's page, XK-F359) ↗

• Claimed for 2025-11-28

  “Противник не обмежився одним китайським модемом діапазону 1300-1500МГц, а почав застосовувати радіомодеми інших діапазонів.”

  The enemy has not stopped at one Chinese modem in the 1,300–1,500 MHz band, and has begun using radio modems in other bands.

  Telegram channel:Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov ↗

• Claimed for 2026-03-07

  “В цілому я б сказав, як 40% 1300-1500 і 60% 3200-3400.”

  Overall I would say 40% at 1,300–1,500 and 60% at 3,200–3,400.

  The two main bands he sees on Russian drone mesh radios, without naming the drone type.

  Telegram channel:Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov ↗

• Inference for

  Pairing the reports: Beskrestnov ties 1,300–1,500 MHz to “one Chinese modem” and 3,200–3,400 MHz to “a modem from another maker” (post 6618); The Insider describes the market as split between Xingkai and Xi’an Sihou. HUR names Xingkai’s XK-F358 in the Geran-5, and Xingkai’s default is 1,300–1,500 MHz. So a Xingkai radio most likely works there, unless it was ordered for another band — which the maker offers and which no source reports for Alabuga’s order.

Possible A band ordered to measure, such as 3,200–3,400 or 1,600–1,800 MHz.

• Claimed for 2026-02-25

  “Діапазон 1600-1800 МГц, але його можуть змінити на будь-який інший”

  Band 1,600–1,800 MHz, but they can change it to any other.

  On a modem from the same maker found in the V2U, not the Geran-5.

  Telegram channel:Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov ↗

• Inference against

  Antenna lengths would separate the bands: λ = 300 / f (MHz) metres, so a quarter-wave radiator is 53.6 mm at 1,400 MHz, 22.7 mm at 3,300 MHz and 44 mm at 1,700 MHz. No antenna appears in any HUR Geran-5 photo; the whip in Beskrestnov’s Gerbera photo is at least about 90 mm visible (scaled from the 131 mm wide box) with part hidden, which rules nothing out.

Would fit: Xingkai band options (L 1,000–1,200 / 1,300–1,500 MHz; S 1.6–1.8 GHz and others)

Leading The maker’s XK-F359, the box Xingkai’s director identified and the model on Alabuga’s invoice.

• Claimed for

  “An unmarked mesh modem made by Xingkai Technology, which The Insider documented in Ukraine and identified as the XK F-359.”

  The Insider ↗

• Claimed for

  “Jiang explained that other versions of the F-359 had different casings but retained the same internal layout.”

  Jiang is Xingkai's director, answering a buyer The Insider posed as.

  The Insider ↗

• Inference for

  Front panels compared. Scale on HUR’s photo of the Geran-5 unit (Militarnyi’s full-size copy, 1,477 px wide): the antenna connectors’ square flanges are 145–146 px, and a standard SMA 4-hole flange is 12.7 mm, so 11.5 px/mm (cross-checked on the data connector’s 1.27 mm contact pitch: 12.4 px/mm). Scale on The Insider’s photo: flange 92 px, so 7.24 px/mm. Antenna centre to antenna centre: 823 / 11.5 = 71.6 mm against 520 / 7.24 = 71.8 mm; power button to the first antenna: 35.8 mm against 35.6 mm; face height: 38.7 mm against 40.7 mm. The order of the parts — ON/OFF, ANT1 with a warning sticker, a PWR/DATA connector, LINK, RSSI, ANT2 with a second sticker — is the same.

  source ↗

• Inference for

  Size. The Insider’s identical unit is 948 / 7.24 ≈ 131 mm wide; on HUR’s photo the face is about 39 mm tall with at least 15 mm of cooling fins below it (cut off by the frame), so at least about 50–54 mm in all. The maker’s Chinese pages give 134 × 129 × 58 mm for the XK-F359 and 134 × 119 × 41 mm for the XK-F358: the measured height rules out the thinner XK-F358 box. The 12.7 × 11 × 3.3 cm on the maker’s English pages fits neither.

Would fit: XK-F359 airborne mesh radio

Possible The XK-F358, as HUR’s record names it.

• Official claim for

  “Modem Mesh Network XK-F358”

  HUR's name for the part; no "XK-F358" marking is visible in its photos.

  HUR War & Sanctions ↗

• Claimed against

  “Some sources, including the Ukrainian military intelligence agency's War and Sanctions portal, had previously misidentified”

  The Insider's sentence continues that HUR had taken the device for the similar XK-F358.

  The Insider ↗

Unlikely Units carry an “HX-50” label.

• Claimed for

  “an identical modem, sometimes found among drone wreckage bearing the HX-50 label”

  Reported for wreckage in general; no HX-50 sticker is visible on HUR's Geran-5 unit, The Insider's unit or Beskrestnov's Gerbera unit.

  The Insider ↗

Leading A Raspberry Pi 4-class single-board computer in a commercial case, fed by a separate fixed camera behind a flat window.

• Claimed for 2026-10-10

  “Нещодавно на ударних БПЛА «Герань-4» і «Герань-5» було виявлено аналогічну систему на основі польотного контролера «Сусанін».”

  Recently a similar system based on the "Susanin" flight controller was found on Geran-4 and Geran-5 strike drones.

  Telegram channel:Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov ↗

• Inference for

  Measured on the photo Beskrestnov published with that post (520 × 800 pixels): the case’s edges sit at about x = 50 and x = 475 and y = 45 and y = 665, so it is about 425 × 620 pixels, an aspect of 620 / 425 ≈ 1.46 (1.37–1.55 allowing for the slight keystone). A Raspberry Pi 4 board is 85 × 56 mm (aspect 1.52); with 3 mm walls a case is about 91 × 62 mm (1.47). A Jetson Orin Nano developer kit (100 × 79 mm, 1.27) and its fan heatsink would not fit a case of this shape. The case is black aluminium with eight columns of vent slots, the pattern of generic Pi 4 cases. A second label carries a data-matrix code and small print that appears to read “… Pi Сусанин”; it is only partly legible.

  Telegram channel:source ↗

• Inference for

  Comparing the round housing photographed by Colonel GSh on a K5 (t.me/war_home/7689) with HUR’s three photos of the Susanin unit from the updated Geran-4 (part 5633): both have a flange with a ring of about eight screws and one flat side, and the central bore is 0.65 of the outer diameter in both (about 255 / 395 pixels and 295 / 455 pixels). The front is a flat window, not a turret or gimbal. That is the same unit design on both drones.

  source ↗

• Claimed for

  “At night, the system performs noticeably worse if there is no additional lighting or specialized image processing.”

  A visible-light camera, without a thermal channel, would behave this way.

  UNN ↗

Would fit: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B; Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4; Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera (Sony IMX477)

Unlikely An NVIDIA Jetson module does the image matching.

• Inference against

  The only Jetson HUR has documented in the family is a “transition board for Nvidia Jetson” in the Shahed-136 MS001. The Susanin case is too small and flat for a Jetson module with its heatsink and fan (see the case measurement above).

Leading About 3 m, as HUR’s record says.

• Official claim for

  “3,2 m”

  The figure in the Wingspan field of HUR's specifications, beside a length of 6,5 m.

  HUR War & Sanctions ↗

• Inference for

  Measured on the in-flight photo of a Geran-5 over Kyiv (969 × 843 pixels, seen from below). Dark pixels projected on the fuselage axis span about 987 pixels; on the wing axis about 461 pixels. Apparent ratio 461 / 987 ≈ 0.47, so 0.47 × 6.5 m ≈ 3.0 m (2.8 m on a 6 m fuselage). The two axes meet at about 72° in the picture instead of 90°, so the drone is seen obliquely. Solving for the tilt that makes them square again: the least oblique solution (tilted about 43° from face-on) gives a true ratio of 0.46, about 3.0 m; at 45° the ratio is 0.39–0.55 (2.6–3.6 m). A 5.5 m wing on a 6–6.5 m fuselage (ratio 0.85–0.92) needs a tilt of about 59–61° and a particular orientation.

• Inference for

  With a 3.2 m wing (about 1.6 m²) an 850 kg drone stalls at about 72–90 m/s; with 5.5 m (about 2.75 m²) at about 60–64 m/s. The first needs a long, powerful launcher — 80 m for 31–51 m/s² — which is what was built (see the launch question). A 5.5 m wing would manage with a shorter rail.

Unlikely About 5.5 m.

• Claimed for

  “Довжина апарата становить близько 6 метрів, а розмах крил досягає 5,5 метра.”

  The drone is about 6 metres long and its wingspan reaches 5.5 metres.

  Militarnyi ↗