Russia’s new drone is said to have suicide attacks, reconnaissance radar, and decoy functions.
According to the Avia-Pro news site, the new Russian UAVs are called Gerbera. Moscow is said to have used Gerbera in a recent raid on the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
This aircraft was developed in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan. According to the manufacturer, the Gerbera UAV has three functions: suicide attack, surveillance, and decoy. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense identified Gerbera’s decoy function earlier this month.
In addition, Gerbera also can coordinate swarm attacks, meaning coordinating with other UAVs to increase effectiveness in combat conditions.
Sources note that under the plywood shell of the drones, there are 3G and 4G antennas, as well as a modem with a SIM card, giving them high mobility and the ability to control at a distance.
In an interview with Reuters, Andrey Chernyak, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, said that the cost of these UAVs is only about 10,000 USD and can operate at an altitude of up to thousands of meters, making it difficult for conventional small air defense weapons to reach.
UAVs have played a key role in the more than two-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides developing them as a way to gain air superiority at a relatively low cost compared to other weapons.
Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military was testing a heavy-lift transport drone called Perun, which has a larger payload than usual. The drone comes in two versions and can fire weapons both on the ground and in the air.
