A Russian Gerbera drone was recently filmed sporting cameras on its back, demonstrating how Moscow might hope to thwart Ukraine’s rising use of cheap interceptor drones against Shahed waves.
A clip of the uncrewed aerial vehicle was published on Tuesday by the Ukrainian drone unit Wu Samurai, a formation of the 117th Heavy Mechanized Brigade that focuses on anti-drone warfare.
The video appears to have been filmed from an interceptor, which is typically a first-person-view uncrewed system designed to chase down bigger drones.
Footage from the interceptor showed the distinct chassis of a Gerbera, a propeller-driven drone designed to mimic the Iranian-origin Shahed loitering munition, flying over fields.
As the interceptor approaches the Gerbera, two optic cameras can be clearly seen attached to the back of the Russian drone. One camera is aimed at the sky, while another is tilted toward the drone’s rear, indicating that these were placed to detect threats from above or behind.
Still, the Wu Samurai Telegram channel wrote that the unit’s interceptor successfully struck the Gerbera.
“Gerbera got caught dodging with two cameras on her back — it didn’t help,” the unit wrote. It’s unclear exactly when and where the footage was filmed. The 117th has been fighting in Donetsk.
The clip of the Gerbera, one of Russia’s cheapest platforms that’s now commonly seen in the war, is a further sign that Russia may be seeking to expand a drone preservation tactic that Moscow has been trying on costlier uncrewed systems.
Over the last few months, Ukrainian troops have increasingly reported encounters with Russian reconnaissance drones, such as the Supercam, fitted with sensors or cameras for helping aerial platforms dodge interceptors.
On September 7, prominent Ukrainian drone blogger Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov posted a video of what he said was a serially produced radio signal detector found on a Supercam drone. Beskrestnov said that once the Supercam detects an outside radio signal — which flags that another drone is likely nearby — it’s programmed to engage in evasive maneuvers.
For many reconnaissance drones, that usually means instantly diving to gain speed and create distance from an interceptor.
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Rising challenges for interceptors
However, recon drones such as the Zala and Supercam are far more expensive than the Gerbera, one of which costs Russia $10,000 to make, according to Ukrainian officials’ estimates in 2024. The cheap drone is often deployed as a decoy for the Shahed, and Russia launches it in hundreds-strong waves to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.
In response, Ukraine has bolstered its anti-air forces by developing low-cost FPV drones to chase down and crash into Shaheds and Gerberas.
Considered a niche, novelty concept just two years ago, interceptors have been prioritized since late 2024 as Russia stepped up the intensity of its Shahed attacks. Kyiv aims to achieve a yearly manufacturing capacity of 1 million interceptors.
The Wu Samurai’s Tuesday clip shows that Russia has, in return, been equipping even its cheapest systems with evasion equipment, pointing to the scale that interceptors are reaching in the war.
If rolled out widely on long-range attack drones and decoys, the rear cameras and radio detectors could pose new difficulties for Ukraine’s interceptor pilots. With today’s technology, drone pilots must already be skilled enough to find and chase down Shaheds and Gerberas in a large three-dimensional environment.
Moscow’s shifting Gerbera tactics stand to produce implications beyond Ukraine, as the West also assesses how to fight low-cost uncrewed systems. Earlier this month, Poland and NATO said they shot down several Russian drones that illegally entered Polish airspace.
While Warsaw has disclosed little about the platforms and weapons used to destroy the drones, it’s highly likely that the alliance deployed expensive air-to-air missiles to target Gerbera drones.
On September 18, Poland signed a cooperation memorandum with Ukraine that includes learning how Kyiv conducts low-cost air defense.
