Russia Builds a Jet Drone Base in Six Weeks, Satellite Images Show

Russia has nearly finished a major new base for launching jet powered drones, built in about six weeks on an empty field in the southwestern Rostov region, a Reuters analysis of satellite images showed on Thursday.

The field was empty on Aug 31. By Wednesday it held a complex facility the size of about 126 soccer pitches, in commercial images from Planet Labs and Airbus. Ukrainian open source researchers, who published their own satellite comparison earlier this week, put the site near Millerovo in the Rostov region and counted at least eight launch positions and 32 sites for preparing drones before launch.

Built for the newest jets

Mike Monnik, who runs the private intelligence firm DroneSec, told Reuters the site looks able to launch the Geran 4 and Geran 5, Russia's newest jet powered attack drones. He counted eight platforms for launch rails on the western edge. The base adds to a Russian network of at least 11 fixed drone launch sites.

The new drones are the problem for Ukraine. Jet powered models fly at up to 600 kilometres an hour, far faster than the propeller drones Ukraine's teams learned to intercept. Kyiv expects Russia to step up jet drone and missile attacks this winter, with the war in its fifth year.

Monnik said the speed of the build shows how fast Russia can now bring an established attack system into service. He judged the site close to complete and likely operational within weeks, if not sooner.

A pattern, not a one off

The Millerovo site follows the same layout as the Tsybulova drone base in the Oryol region, Ukrainian researchers said. Russia expanded Tsybulova in September, adding hangars and more launch positions for Geran 5 drones. Ukrainian drones hit some of its bunkers and hangars that month.

The build also lands in a hard week for Russia and NATO. European governments accuse Moscow of stepping up sabotage, drone incursions and cyberattacks. Russia warned last month that it could use nuclear weapons if NATO tried to cut off its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic.

What happens next

Watch two things. First, whether launch activity at Millerovo shows up in Ukraine's nightly air attack reports in the coming weeks. Second, whether Ukraine strikes the site before it reaches full use, as it did at Tsybulova. A base this size, built this fast, is both a capability and a target.