--- title: Ukraine Can't Stop Russia's Jet-Powered Shahed Drone description: Russia's jet-powered Shahed/Geran drones, now in their third through fifth iterations (Geran-3, -4, -5), have outpaced Ukraine's interceptor systems, flying up... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Ukraine Can't Stop Russia's Jet-Powered Shahed Drone | daily.dev og:description: Russia's jet-powered Shahed/Geran drones, now in their third through fifth iterations (Geran-3, -4, -5), have outpaced Ukraine's interceptor systems, flying up... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/mFBXmlWay.png og:image:alt: Ukraine Can't Stop Russia's Jet-Powered Shahed Drone og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Ukraine Can't Stop Russia's Jet-Powered Shahed Drone **[IEEE Spectrum](https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Russia's jet-powered Shahed/Geran drones, now in their third through fifth iterations (Geran-3, -4, -5), have outpaced Ukraine's interceptor systems, flying up to 500 km/h and altitudes of 6-7 km, making them far harder to detect and intercept than earlier propeller-based models. Monthly launches rose from 350 in June to 2,800 in August, overwhelming Ukrainian air defense. Ukraine is developing jet-powered interceptors and exploring cheaper, less compute-intensive AI guidance systems (using thermal, RF, or acoustic signatures instead of imagery) since expensive hardware like NVIDIA Jetson Orin boards cannot be economically destroyed at scale in one-way intercept missions. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How fast is the Geran-4 jet-powered Shahed drone compared to earlier versions? The Geran-4 reaches peak speeds of around 500 km/h using Telefly LX-WP-160 and TF-TJ2000A turbojet engines, far faster than the propeller-powered Geran-2 and more maneuverable than the earlier jet-powered Geran-3, which topped out near 370 km/h with a Chinese Telefly JT80 turbojet. Geran-4 also flies at higher altitudes of 6-7 km, complicating both detection and interception. _Track fast-moving defense tech shifts like jet-powered drone warfare on daily.dev._ ### Why can't Ukraine's interceptor drones stop the new jet-powered Shahed drones? Propeller-powered interceptor drones max out around 450 km/h, while jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones fly up to 500 km/h and can perform evasive maneuvers at high speed, making head-on intercepts unreliable since even a slight pitch or yaw causes the interceptor to miss within its few minutes of flight time. Effective interception requires the interceptor to be faster than the target, a condition no longer met. _Follow how interceptor technology evolves as developers weigh speed against maneuverability tradeoffs on daily.dev._ ### How much does a jet-powered Geran drone cost and how many has Russia launched? A jet-powered Geran drone costs around $80,000 per unit, roughly twice the price of earlier propeller-driven Geran models. Despite the higher cost, Russia scaled up deployment sharply, increasing launches from 350 per month in June to 2,800 in August, overwhelming Ukraine's air defense capacity. _See how cost-exchange dynamics shape defense tech decisions by following coverage on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [NATO needs layered defenses to deal with swarms of drones](https://daily.dev/posts/nato-needs-layered-defenses-to-deal-with-swarms-of-drones-sz4p6y5fy) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Stealth Ukraine Ground Drones Hunt In the Dark](https://daily.dev/posts/stealth-ukraine-ground-drones-hunt-in-the-dark-bjwn98xky) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Russia tries to jam Starlink to counter Ukraine’s long-range drones](https://daily.dev/posts/russia-tries-to-jam-starlink-to-counter-ukraine-s-long-range-drones-9aifgrccx) · The Next Web · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Best of 2025: Ukraine Pwns Russian Drone Maker — Gaskar is ‘Paralyzed’](https://daily.dev/posts/best-of-2025-ukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed--d5x8tt3zx) · Security Boulevard · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Russia building its own Starlink – and faster than expected](https://daily.dev/posts/russia-building-its-own-starlink-and-faster-than-expected-isefiy5dx) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#neural-networks](https://daily.dev/tags/neural-networks), [#autonomous-systems](https://daily.dev/tags/autonomous-systems), [#defense-tech](https://daily.dev/tags/defense-tech) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Ukraine Can't Stop Russia's Jet-Powered Shahed Drone","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway"},"datePublished":"2026-09-30T11:03:00.880Z","dateModified":"2026-09-30T11:03:24.411Z","description":"Russia's jet-powered Shahed/Geran drones, now in their third through fifth iterations (Geran-3, -4, -5), have outpaced Ukraine's interceptor systems, flying up...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c7b70185df0aaa83fcead2a6d0bdc45c?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c7b70185df0aaa83fcead2a6d0bdc45c?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"IEEE Spectrum","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"IEEE Spectrum","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/b123f5e8420e492ab36f6adb30c1793a","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,neural-networks,autonomous-systems,defense-tech","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IEEE Spectrum","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ukraine Can't Stop Russia's Jet-Powered Shahed Drone"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ukraine-can-t-stop-russia-s-jet-powered-shahed-drone-mfbxmlway#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How fast is the Geran-4 jet-powered Shahed drone compared to earlier versions?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Geran-4 reaches peak speeds of around 500 km/h using Telefly LX-WP-160 and TF-TJ2000A turbojet engines, far faster than the propeller-powered Geran-2 and more maneuverable than the earlier jet-powered Geran-3, which topped out near 370 km/h with a Chinese Telefly JT80 turbojet. 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