What Is Gerbera? Russia's Long-Range Drone Enters Ukraine Battlefield

After many long months of contending with long-range Shahed drone strikes, Ukraine may already be coming up against the Shahed's "younger sister," also known as the Gerbera drone.

Ukrainian media reported earlier this week that a new, previously unseen Russian drone design was discovered near Kyiv on July 24.

Days later, a video published by a Russian military drone unit dubbed "Stalin's Falcons" on Sunday, was linked by Ukrainian media to the same drone.

Posting to messaging app Telegram, the Russian unit called the Gerbera drone the "younger sister" of the Geran drone. Geran is the Russian term used to describe the Iranian-designed Shahed variant that Moscow has heavily relied on to hit Ukraine, associated with a distinctive buzzing sound as they approach a target.

Ukraine and Russia have been engaged in a rapidly evolving drone race since the start of Moscow's invasion in early 2022. Uncrewed aerial vehicles dominate the skies above the battlefields, and Kyiv's airborne drones are famous for long-range strikes on Russian assets. Ukraine is also known for its naval drones, and both sides are developing ground drones.

Since the initial months of full-scale war, Moscow has consistently targeted Ukraine with Iranian-designed Shahed drones. Russia has moved toward domestically producing the drones—reportedly at a facility in the central Russian region of Tatarstan—and is known to have adapted the designs to try to evade Ukrainian air defenses.

Ukraine's Air Force has typically reported a handful of overnight drone attacks for consecutive days or weeks, followed by occasional larger barrages.

Early on Wednesday, Kyiv's military said it had intercepted all 89 Shahed drones fired by Russia overnight, primarily targeting Ukraine's capital. The air force described it as one of the "most massive" Shahed drone attacks on Ukraine and the largest since the start of the year.

Ukrainian media reported that the drone discovered around Kyiv was made of foam plastic and carried a Ukrainian SIM card.

Andriy Cherniak, a spokesperson for Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, told Reuters earlier this month that Moscow had started using new, cheap long-range drones, often made of foam plastic or plywood, to scope out Ukraine's air defenses.

Andriy Kramarov, a Ukrainian Air Force reservist and military expert, told Newsweek that the Gerbera drone's camera can transmit video back to Russian operators, giving information for targeting high-value Ukrainian systems like the Patriot, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), or smaller air defense systems that intercept Russian missiles and drones.

The Gerbera reportedly found around Kyiv did not have a warhead fitted, and Ukrainian media speculated that it may have been a prototype of a multifunctional system deployed to gauge the range of the new device. It may also be used for reconnaissance or as a decoy to detect air defenses when they activate, as well as striking targets, according to the reports.

Samuel Bendett of the CNA, a Washington-based nonprofit for research and analyses, argued that there is a general trend toward multifunctional drones.

Kramarov said the Gerbera is kitted out with a relatively small warhead because the multifunctional drone needs room for camera equipment.

Images widely circulated of the Gerbera drone show foam sliced with hot-wire cutters to allow it to be made quickly and using cheap, simple tools, United Kingdom-based drone expert Steve Wright told Newsweek.

"The only control surfaces are 'elevons' on each wing, which combine all the functions needed to maneuver the drone for the fewest number of parts," Wright said. "The systems inside is the usual tangled web of systems familiar to anyone improvising using any components to hand."

The reportedly low cost and relatively long range of the Gerbera drone could indicate it may be used on a larger scale at some point in the war, Bendett told Newsweek.

"It is a very sleek-looking drone that does not possess any new technological features but has been refined for cheap mass production," Wright said. However, this type of inexpensive drone poses a real danger to Ukraine, he said.

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