The New Jet-Powered Drones That Are Breeding Anxiety in Ukraine
New York Times · LC · trust 40/100
These Russian drones are more destructive, faster and harder to shoot down than the propeller-driven models Russia has used throughout the war.
Listen · 6:17 min Share full article 0 Police officers inspecting parts of a Russian drone at the site of an apartment building damaged by a strike in Kyiv this week. Credit... Gleb Garanich/Reuters By Cassandra Vinograd
Significantly faster and harder to intercept than the propeller-driven drones that have stalked Ukraine’s skies for years, these munitions are stretching air defenses and stoking anxiety about what analysts and officials predict will be a dangerous new stage of the war.
Here’s what to know about the deadly weapons, which experts say blur the line between drones and cruise missiles, and upon which Russia is increasingly reliant.
Russia started launching Iranian-made, propeller-powered Shahed drones against Ukraine in the fall of 2022. Later, it began to mass produce its own versions, called Gerans.
The triangle-shaped drones have small piston engines that sputter like lawn mowers, and they carry explosive payloads that detonate when they crash into targets. They are relatively slow, noisy and fly at low altitude — characteristics that helped Ukraine find ways to shoot them down.
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