IEMZ Kupol Geran-2

The Geran-2 is the Russian designation for the HESA Shahed 136, a one-way attack drone designed by the Iranian state-owned HESA and Shahed Aviation Industries. First public footage appeared in December 2021. In November 2022, Russia and Iran agreed to localized production in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, Tatarstan. By late spring 2025, the Yelabuga factory produced approximately 170 units per day, with total production reaching roughly 26,000 units.

The aircraft features a cropped delta-wing with a central fuselage and wingtip rudders. It measures 3.5 meters long, has a 2.5-meter wingspan, and weighs 200 kg. Power is supplied by a rear-mounted 550cc Mado MD-550 two-stroke engine driving a pusher propeller, enabling speeds over 185 km/h. Range is estimated between 970 km and 2,500 km. While initial airframes used lightweight honeycomb, Russian versions utilize fiberglass over woven carbon fiber. The drone is launched from truck-mounted rails using a jettisonable rocket booster.

Navigation relies on an inertial guidance system corrected by civilian GPS and GLONASS. Russian units utilize Russian-made flight control units and GLONASS-based Kometa satellite navigation modules, alongside an antenna interference suppression system. Recovered electronics include Texas Instruments TMS320 processors and mobile 4G modems. Later iterations integrated Starlink satellite communications, Raspberry Pi 5 microcomputers, and Windows 11 Mini PCs for vision processing.

The standard nose warhead weighs 30 to 50 kg. Russian modifications include tungsten ball shrapnel and a 52 kg thermobaric warhead option.

Operational deployments include use by Iranian-aligned groups at Al-Tanf, Syria, and by the IRGC against Kurdish targets in Iraq in 2022. It was used in suspected maritime strikes in the Indian Ocean in November 2023 and in strikes against Israel on April 13, 2024. In the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russian forces have deployed the Geran-2 since September 2022 against Ukrainian infrastructure. The United States deployed a reverse-engineered clone, the LUCAS drone, during the 2026 Iran war.

Main Variants

• Geran-2 (Russian production): Localized variant featuring a fiberglass-over-carbon-fiber airframe, Kometa navigation, and Russian flight control systems.
• Geran-2 90 kg Warhead Version: A variant carrying a heavier 90 kg warhead and a smaller 71-liter fuel tank, reducing range to 650 km.
• Geran-2 MS Series: A reconnaissance variant equipped with an infrared camera, an Nvidia Jetson-based computer for video processing, and a radio modem.
• Geran-2 Series E: An experimental variant carrying an 18-kg 9K333 Verba MANPAD launcher on its back and a nose-mounted targeting camera.