RUSSIA'S GERAN 5 JET POWERED DRONE: US$50,000 CRUISE MISSILE WITH 1,000 KM RANGE, 700 KM/HR SPEED

 

OutSyed The Box

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

RUSSIA'S GERAN 5 JET POWERED DRONE: US$50,000 CRUISE MISSILE WITH 1,000 KM RANGE, 700 KM/HR SPEED

 

The war in Ukraine has defined drone warfare and drone tactics that will become textbook material in war colleges for decades to come.  In August of this year (2026) the Russians have introduced the Geran 5 jet powered drone. It is made up of a Chinese turbojet engine, German transistors and American processors made by Texas Instruments.  Total cost is about US$50,000. The Geran 5 has a range of 1,000 km and a speed between 700 - 800 km/hr.  It carries a 90 kg warhead. Which makes it one of the cheapest options to deliver high explosive payload up to 1,000 km.

The really interesting aspect of the drone is it optical guidance system, on top of an inertial guidance system.  An inertial guidance system (IGS) is a navigation system that figures out an object's position, speed, and direction of movement without needing GPS, radio signals, or external references.  It does this using sensors called an inertial measurement unit (IMU) consisting of gyroscopes — measure rotation and changes in orientation and  accelerometers — which measure changes in velocity (acceleration).  A computer continuously integrates these measurements to calculate where the object is located. 

Excuse the tech talk but what this means is that the drone carries all these tech stuff on board.  It does not need to communicate with base or with satellites or with any other radio guidance. It can complete the strike mission independently on its own.  Meaning it is extremely difficult to jam the drone. 

But the icing on the Geran 5 drone is the optical guidance system. It also has a camera in front which scans the topography and landmarks on the ground. The entire route has already been photographed by satellites and other aerial recon and the images of the entire flight route are stored in the computer memory of the drone. As the drone flies it can match what its camera-eye sees on the ground with the images stored in its memory. This way the drone can fly super accurately following rivers, railway lines, recognise building shapes or shapes of hills and arrive accurately at the target. 

The Geran 5 has effectively become a cruise missile with a strike range of 1,000 km. But at only US$50,000 per drone. Versus a  Tomahawk cruise missile that has a range of 1,600 km, has a payload of 450 kg and costs US$4.0 million a piece.

If the Russians wish to deliver 450 kg of explosives (like the Tomahawk), they must shoot FIVE Geran 5 drones.  But the cost will be US$250,000 versus US$4.0 million for the Tomahawk (16 times more money). 

(Hello Tuan Jeneral Ketua Turus Angkatan Tentera, you must think of saving money. NATO sudah kalah). Here is a brief video.