Russia's new jet-powered Geran-5 drones overwhelm Kyiv's defenses with speed and endurance

Russia's new jet-powered Geran-5 drones are terrorizing Kyiv, with speeds up to 600 km/h that overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and enable prolonged bombardment. Ukraine now intercepts only about 80% of these drones, down from over 95% for older models. The Geran-5's turboreactor engine nearly triples the speed of previous piston-engine Shahed drones, and it flies at higher altitudes up to 3,000 meters while also using low-level flights to evade radar. It has a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers and can be controlled live by an operator, unlike pre-programmed predecessors. Ukraine has only hundreds of prototype countermeasures, needing thousands, and is scrambling F-16s to respond. Russia has shifted to launching three or four drones every half hour to stretch terror periods, and production has surged from 300 in June to 2,800 in August, with an estimated 3,000 built monthly. Moscow is spending them immediately, aiming for Geran-5s to comprise 60% of total drone output, though they are costlier to assemble.