Satellite images reveal that Russia built out a base for a new generation of jet-powered drones

• Russia has built new launch rails for attack drones at one of its bases.
• The launch rails appear designed to support Russia's newer, jet-powered Geran drones.
• The development reflects Russia's ongoing investment in its drone capabilities.

Russia has extended the length of the launch rails at one of its drone bases to support the newer, jet-powered aircraft that it uses to attack Ukraine, satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider shows.

The development indicates that Russia is investing in support infrastructure for newer generations of the Geran one-way attack drone as Moscow continues to modify and upgrade the deadly weapon.

Imagery collected Tuesday by the US spatial intelligence firm Vantor reveals four launch rails — two of them appear to be extended length — at the Tsimbulova drone base in Russia's Oryol region, roughly 100 miles from the Ukrainian border.

The extended launch rails are 85 meters (280 feet) long. Construction on those began in late December 2025, according to Vantor.

Meanwhile, construction on the two shorter rails began in late March or early April, Kyle Glen, an open-source investigator with the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience, told Business Insider.

Strategic Aviation of Russia, an open-source intelligence group, first published satellite imagery of Tsimbulova on its Telegram channel earlier this week. Analysts said that the two shorter launch rails support older Geran-3 and Geran-4 drones, while the two longer rails are designed for the newer Geran-5.

Neither Russia's defense ministry nor its US embassy responded to a request for comment on the developments at Tsimbulova.

The Geran is a family of Russian one-way attack drones. The first variant, Geran-2, is a domestic copy of the notorious Iranian Shahed-136 that Moscow started using in 2022 to strike Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.

Geran-2 is powered by a propeller, while the later variants — the Geran-3, Geran-4, and Geran-5 — are all equipped with jet engines. These drones — launched by rail to accelerate them to flight speed before the engines take over — can be armed with explosive warheads and fly at high speeds into their targets, detonating on impact.

Unlike the earlier Geran variants, which have a delta-wing shape, the Geran-5 more closely resembles the profile of a traditional cruise missile, said Glen, who closely follows Russian drone developments.

Tsimbulova is one of several bases that Russia uses to launch drones into Ukraine, although it appears to be one of just two sites that have the infrastructure to support newer Geran variants, with the other being in the occupied Donetsk region, Glen said.

Russia has also expanded the Donetsk base in recent months, adding additional launch positions and storage facilities at what was once an international airport. This base is miles away from the front lines, and Ukraine has carried out several strikes against it.

Moscow has significantly escalated its nightly drone attacks against Ukraine. Russia launched nearly 16,000 drones in the first three months of 2026 compared to over 10,000 during the same period last year.

Ukraine has responded to these regular bombardments by ramping up the development and production of cheap interceptor drones, which have emerged as a priority defense investment for Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that Kyiv can produce at least 2,000 interceptor drones a day, with half of them available for supplying partner nations.

The success of the Ukrainian interceptor drones has caught the eye of NATO countries and US allies in the Middle East that are seeking low-cost air defenses after facing substantial barrages during the Iran war, which saw Tehran launch thousands of drones across the surrounding region.