Russian “Gerbera” drones, which the Russian Federation uses to mimic the Shahed and Geran-2 to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses, contain foreign electronics.
This was reported by the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
These drones can carry a combat unit as a kamikaze and conduct radio-electronic reconnaissance, in particular, to detect air defense positions and record the hits of other strike drones. Russia assembles such multitasking drones at a factory in the city of Yelabuga.
These UAVs include plywood and foam — this makes them much cheaper than other drones. But the design of the drone includes a set of components of foreign manufacturers, which is usual for Russian weapons, GUR notes.
With the help of the analysis of knocked-down samples, experts found out that the Russians manufacture "Gerbers" according to the Chinese prototype, using foreign components imported from China.
The Chinese manufacturer of aircraft models Skywalker Technology Co., Ltd., which also produces fuselages and organizes deliveries to Russia, is considered the developer of these drones in GUR. These operations and schemes are carried out through third-party companies.
For example, Gerberʼs anti-interference antenna (CRPA) contains chips from the American company Texas Instruments, the Dutch companies NXP Semiconductors and Analog Devices.
The universal flight controller also includes components of the above-mentioned US and Dutch manufacturers, as well as parts manufactured by Atmel (USA), STMicroelectronics, U-Blox (Switzerland), XLSEMI (China).
For targeting by the pilot (according to the FPV-drone principle) of the barrage version of the UAV and conducting aerial reconnaissance, this type of drone has a Chinese camera with a three-axis suspension Topotek KHY10S90 and a Xingkai Tech Mesh Network XK-F358 modem.
The engine at "Gerbera" is also Chinese — it is manufactured by Mile Hao Xiang Technology Co, Ltd, which was hit by US sanctions this summer for supplying components to Russia.
- This is not the first drone used by Russia for decoys that contains foreign components. Recently, Russia has been massively using fake drones to overwhelm Ukrainian air defense during airstrikes.
- A study of the Russian "parody" showed that its flight controller module contains components manufactured by companies from China (Ebyte, Jiashan Jinchang Electron, Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology), the USA (Texas Instruments, Cypress Semiconductor, InvenSense), Switzerland (STMicroelectronics) and Taiwan ( SONiX Technology).
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