Captured Geran-4 drone found to carry Chinese turbojet engine

A Geran-4 one-way attack drone captured from Russian forces contained a single turbojet engine built by the Chinese company Telefly, according to an inspection of the airframe. The powerplant appears to be a TF-TJ2000A, a model rated at 440lbf, or 1.96kN, of thrust.

The examination was carried out by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a news organisation funded by the US government. Its findings align with positions already taken publicly by Ukraine's Defence Intelligence agency. In a briefing dated 25 May, the agency said two turbojet types had been seen on Geran-4 airframes: the Telefly LX-WP-160, no longer produced, and the TF-TJ2000A.

According to the news outlet, the turbojets fitted to Geran drones come from a mix of sources. Some are assembled in China. Others are the same design but put together inside Russia from Chinese-supplied parts.

The inspection also turned up components of Western origin in the drone, among them a circuit board manufactured by the US firm Texas Instruments. Ukraine's War Sanctions database lists the Geran-4 as carrying parts sourced from American, Chinese, Swiss, British, German, Japanese and Taiwanese companies.

Telefly TF-TJ2000A engines are used on the Geran-4 and Geran-5, both long-range strike munitions. The Geran-4 is a development of the Geran-2, itself derived from Iran's Shahed 136, the design widely associated with popularising the one-way attack drone and with disrupting established approaches to long-range strike and air defence.

The scale of the programme is not confined to Russia's inventory. Washington has developed its own Shahed-derived design.