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Evolution of Antennas in Gerbera Drones
The progression of anti-jamming capabilities in Russian Gerbera platforms.
Primary Sources
Russia Putting Anti-Jam Antennas on Foam Decoys for Shaheds: Ukraine ...
By Matthew Loh You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. Gerberas, such as the one seen here, are typically decoys for Russia's version of the Shahed attack drone. Danylo Antoniuk/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images Ukraine is finding advanced antennas on Russia's low-priority foam and plywood Gerbera drones. A top drone advisor said it's a sign Russia has surged production of the anti-jamming component. That's just after Russia was facing a three-to-five-month wait for these antennas last year, he said. Ukrainian troops are finding advanced antennas with stronger anti-jamming features on Russian decoy drones, a sign that the Kremlin is overcoming a shortage of the key component. Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, a prominent Ukrainian drone analyst, posted photos to social media on Wednesday of a downed delta-wing Gerbera drone and a 12-element Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna."Recently, 12-element Kometa antennas have begun to appear on the Gerberas," wrote Beskrestnov, who is the Ukrainian defense minister's advisor on battle drone tech."For me, this is a sign that the plant that produces Kometa has increased its production capacity. A year ago, there were not enough Kometas even for KABs," he added, referring to Russian precision glide bombs. "There was a three-to-five-month queue at the plant."Antennas with more elements are generally more resistant to electronic warfare, one of Ukraine's main ways to disrupt or take down incoming drones. More basic versions of the Kometa, Russia's family of anti-jamming antennas, have four- or eight-element arrays. That a Russian Gerbera would be equipped with a 12-element antenna is significant. Moscow typically uses Gerberas as decoys to absorb Ukrainian air defense munitions hunting down the Geran-2, Russia's domestically produced analog of the Iranian Shahed-136 long-range attack drone.Often made of foam or plywood, the Gerbera is more expendable than the Geran-2, which has an estimated price of between $35,000 and $80,000 each. Gerberas cost about $10,000 each to make, Ukrainian officials estimated in 2024.Though Russia has, more recently, been seen equipping Gerberas with small warheads or using them as scouting tools, the propeller-driven drones are typically considered distractions or low-priority targets.Beskrestnov wrote that Russia has traditionally saved heavily on costs for the Gerbera, initially launching them without jamming protection at all...
russia Equips Gerbera Foam UAVs With 12-Element Kometa-M GNSS Antennas ...
The appearance of 12-element Kometa-M arrays on the Gerbera platform suggests that russia may be scaling up production of these navigation systems. According to Beskrestnov, just a year ago russia reportedly faced shortages of Kometa units even for guided aerial bombs, with delivery queues reaching up to five months.The Gerbera drone was originally developed as an ultra-low-cost platform intended primarily as a decoy to saturate Ukrainian air defense systems. Built from foam and plywood and using inexpensive Chinese electronics, it was designed for mass production at minimal cost. From the outset, however, multiple variants were presented, including reconnaissance and strike configurations.Read more: Europe's Most Alarming Air Defense Scenario: Could It Survive a Month of Continuous russian Drone Waves?12-element Kometa-M antenna from a Gerbera drone / Photo credit: Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, Advisor to the Ukrainian Minister of Defenserussia began actively deploying Gerbera drones in mid-2024. Earlier, Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (HUR) linked the system's development to China's Skywalker Technology, suggesting it may have been produced specifically for russian requirements.Although initially used as decoys, the platform was later adapted to carry warheads of up to 5 kg. Subsequent modifications reportedly added further roles, including mesh network communication relay functions and leaflet-dropping capabilities.Virtually the entire electronics suite of the Gerbera UAV captured in a single image / Photo credit: Serhii “Flash” BeskrestnovDespite these upgrades, Gerbera has remained a very low-cost system. According to Beskrestnov, early versions were deployed without anti-jamming GNSS antennas. Later, Iran-supplied four-element CRPA antennas were installed, but these gradually became less relevant for Shahed-type UAVs. russia likely redirected remaining stockpiles of such systems to the Gerbera fleet.At present, it remains unclear how widespread the use of Kometa-M antennas on Gerbera drones has become. However, the trend indicates russia's continued effort to scale mass-produced, anti-jamming navigation modules across a growing range of weapon systems.It also highlights the importance of striking production facilities for critical electronic warfare components deep inside russia, particularly using long-range precision weapons such as cruise missiles.russia widely deploys Kometa anti-jamming GNSS systems across its arsenal, including guided aerial bomb...
Russia assaults Ukraine with over 800 drones and decoys, the largest ...
KYIV, Ukraine—Russia hit Ukraine's capital with drone and missiles Sunday in the largest aerial attack on the country since the war began, killing at least two people and leaving smoke rising ...
Ukraine's official reveals how Russia learned to jam interceptor drones
On some Russian Shahed drones, electronic warfare (EW) systems may be installed to suppress Ukrainian interceptor drones and jam radars, according to the Telegram channel of Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Defense.
