MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. The ongoing military conflict in Ukraine is rapidly accelerating the enhancement of Russian Geran-class unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Denis Fedutinov, a leading unmanned aerial vehicle expert, told TASS.

Earlier, media reports indicated that a new version of the Geran-class drones is capable of dropping mines deep behind the Ukrainian lines. "This is the proof of the ongoing improvement of weapons and military equipment used within the special military operation zone. Moreover, as already noted, the ongoing operation exponentially accelerates the pace of such improvements — what previously took years now takes months, even weeks. This is because these evolutionary processes occur in the context of countermeasures undertaken by the enemy, which can significantly improve their effectiveness," Fedutinov said.

According to him, in this case, the Geran’s standard strike role was supplemented by the capability to mine specific points along its flight path. "Moreover, unlike heavy multirotor drones, often used to lay anti-tank mines, in this case mines are laid not near the line of contact, but typically deep behind enemy lines," the expert added.

He recalled that steps to expand the Geran’s capabilities have been repeatedly implemented previously. "For example, to improve their targeting accuracy, they were equipped with optoelectronic devices, including those operating in the thermal wavelength range. The range of installed warheads was expanded to improve their effectiveness against certain types of targets. Decoy flares and even air-to-air missiles were installed on the drones to improve their survivability," Fedutinov noted.