Raspberry Pi, USA News: British parts are being utilized in Russia’s new jet-powered attack drones currently deployed in Vladimir Putin’s bombing campaign across Ukraine. Ukrainian intelligence analysts identified that flight-control components used to direct these aircraft originated from the Cambridge-based technology firm Raspberry Pi. This discovery emerged as specialists inspected the wreckage of downed Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones. According to Ukrainian officials, the components reached Russian defense firms after being sold to third-party companies, successfully evading international sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, stated that Raspberry Pi microcomputers represent one of the most crucial elements of these advanced drones. He noted that such flight controls appear in most of the drones and expressed an expectation for the company to enhance internal compliance and scrutinize its product distribution. A spokesperson for Raspberry Pi responded that the firm is disappointed by evidence showing its products reaching Russia, deplores illegal trades, and applies strict preventive measures.
Additional components inside the drones were traced to armaments originating in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and China. Russia’s Alabuga plant in Tatarstan currently manufactures approximately 4,000 jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones each month, alongside 2,000 older propeller-driven Geran-2 models. The Geran-5 reaches speeds of 375mph, significantly outpacing Ukraine’s current fleet of interceptor drones, while the Geran-4 cruises between 185 and 215mph with a dash capability approaching 310mph.
Impact on Ukrainian Air Defense and Casualties
The high cruising altitude of these advanced drones places them out of reach of shoulder-launched missiles and anti-aircraft guns. This forces Ukrainian forces to deploy costlier surface-to-air missiles or scramble fighter jets. While Ukraine successfully intercepted more than 90 percent of older Geran-2 models, interception rates dropped to roughly 55 percent against the jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 variants in September.
Fighter jets, particularly Kyiv’s overstretched F-16 fleet, currently handle most successful engagements against the newer drones. However, more than half of Kyiv’s F-16s remain grounded due to a maintenance bottleneck in Belgium, while stocks of air-to-air missiles and 20mm cannon ammunition dwindle. The campaign has inflicted heavy casualties, including 14 deaths and 14 serious injuries from a strike on a Dnipro train station, plus five additional deaths in Poltava and Chernihiv, which included two 15-year-old girls.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that his country is prepared for war with Europe while maintaining that Moscow does not desire it. Warning that any opposing preparation would face consequences, the Russian leader asserted that the West had failed to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia.
