The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has released details of a new modification of the Russian Geran‑2 UAV equipped with an R‑60 air‑to‑air missile.
The Main Intelligence Directorate reported this on Facebook.
In the “Components in Weapons” section of the War&Sanctions portal, the structure, components, and a list of enterprises involved in the production of the Geran‑2 UAV, series “E,” equipped with an R‑60 missile, have been published.
Russia has adapted an old Soviet development—the R‑60 air‑to‑air missile—for installation on Geran drones to target Ukrainian helicopters and aircraft that hunt Russian UAVs. The missile, with the APU‑60‑1MD (P‑62‑1MD) aircraft launcher, is mounted on a special bracket located on the upper front part of the UAV’s fuselage.
The drone is equipped with two network cameras—one in the nose section and one behind the missile launcher. Video transmission and control commands are carried out via a Chinese Xingkay Tech XK‑F358 mesh modem.
The flight controller, navigation, and inertial units remain standard for other Geran drones. For satellite navigation under conditions of active electronic warfare, a 12‑channel, jam‑resistant “Kometa” module is used.
The electronic suite also includes a Raspberry Pi 4 single‑board microcomputer (UK), a tracker, and two GSM modems for telemetry transmission.
The countries of origin of the electronic component base remain typical for Russian UAVs of this type: the United States, China, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. A full list of components with markings and photographs is available via the link.
The likely principle of missile employment involves transmitting images from the drone’s cameras to an operator via the mesh modem; if a Ukrainian aircraft or helicopter enters the engagement zone, the operator sends a launch command to the missile’s automatic control unit.
After launch, the R‑60’s infrared homing head independently locks onto the target. A variant is also possible in which the seeker acquires the target in advance and transmits the relevant information to the operator, who then gives the launch command.
The main goal of this new development is to create a threat to Ukrainian army and tactical aviation and to reduce the effectiveness of intercepting enemy UAVs. Thus, the Russian multi‑purpose version of the Iranian Shahed‑136 gains an additional role, and experience from such use will likely also be passed on to Iran.
