Ukraine's interceptor tech outpaced by Russia’s jet-powered Geran-5 drones

October 2 ------ The jet-black Russian munition slammed into the Presidium building of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences, an iconic Tsarist-era structure right in the center of Kyiv, setting the building on fire. Survivors climbed out of the windows and clambered onto the building's ledges, fleeing the flames and choking black smoke. Two people were killed in the attack. Around an hour later, an identical munition struck a private medical clinic a few blocks away.

The Geran-5 jet-powered drone is Russia's latest attempt to destroy civilian life in Kyiv and force Ukraine to capitulate, as Russian offensives stall and Moscow's forces lose ground on the battlefield. Small and with a tubular fuselage reminiscent of a missile rather than a drone, the Geran-5 flies higher, faster, and is significantly more difficult to shoot down.

"The Geran-5 is a significantly more difficult target to intercept than the Geran-4, or any of the previous generation of Russian drones," a senior engineer working for a defense contractor told the Kyiv Independent, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the work's sensitive nature. "We have multiple teams attacking the problem from 4-5 different angles at the same time," he said. "The Geran-5 flies 150km/h faster than the Geran-4, so the goal is to intercept from the front rather than the rear - a much harder problem to solve," the engineer said.

Source: kyivindependent.com