Satellite photos show how quickly Russia can build new launch bases for its fastest attack drones

• Russia can build new launch bases for its Geran-5 strike drones in just a few months.
• Satellite images taken from August onward show an empty field being rapidly converted into an advanced base.
• It's a "very fast turnaround" for such a complex facility, one analyst said.

Recent satellite images show that Russia turned an empty field into an attack drone base in a matter of weeks.

The photos, provided by US commercial satellite imaging firms Vantor and Planet Labs, capture work at a site in southwestern Russia roughly two miles from an air base in Millerovo.

The area is home to one of about a dozen publicly known launch sites for its Gerans, Russian versions of Iranian long-range strike drones. Moscow launches these drones alongside ballistic and cruise missiles, making barrages larger and more complex.

In recent months, Russia has pivoted toward mass-producing its newer, jet-powered Gerans for attacks, further stressing Ukraine's already strained air-defense network.

A photo taken on August 8 shows that the field near Millerovo was essentially empty at the time.

By September 12, the groundwork for a compound had clearly emerged, with construction roads built and land cleared for launch rails and buildings.

Nine days later, the site's layout had begun to take shape, with berms, designated launch bays, and structural foundations. In the photo, an access road cuts into the heart of the base.

By October 12, the base's features are clearly visible, including storage facilities and support buildings.

Spencer Faragasso, a senior fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security who studies Russian and Iranian drones, told Business Insider that this is likely a launch facility for the newer Geran-5.

The most obvious tell is the two longer catapult launch rails for the drone installed at the edge of the site, he said.

The Geran-5, thought to be a Russian version of the Iranian Karrar, is reported to fly at speeds up to 370 mph and exhibits some characteristics of a cruise missile. It is known to require launch rails of about 280 feet or longer. It is the fastest of Russia's two types of jet-powered attack drones.

Such drones are a high-priority concern for Ukraine, which fears it will have to take them down with expensive air defense missiles because many of the interceptor drones able to take down the older Gerans can't fly fast enough to keep up with the new ones.

The new launch site here was built with a "very fast turnaround for a base to be in such an advanced stage of construction since ground break in August," Faragasso said.

"What's concerning here is the fact that Russia was able to build this facility in such short order," he said, adding that it showed the Kremlin was gaining experience and expertise in building its drone bases rapidly.

It would be unsurprising to see Russia build similar bases elsewhere, Faragasso added.

"If one base were to be attacked and destroyed by cruise missiles or ballistic missiles, another likely could be built quickly," he said.

A photo from October 27 shows the site was still under construction. It's unclear if it's now operational, but it's unlikely.

The photo shows that Russia has set up at least eight launch bays at the new installation, possibly all for Geran-5s.

Brady Africk, an open-source analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, told Business Insider that the October 27 image shows several of these bays haven't had catapult rails installed yet and that buildings for equipment and munitions storage are likely still being erected.

While its layout is similar to most of Russia's other Geran launch bases, this one indicates that Moscow has been learning new lessons, Africk said.

"It has more launch rails, and longer ones, than some of Russia's earliest drone launch sites, along with protective areas for munitions and equipment," he said.

Russia is making a 'massive infrastructure bet'

The drone base near Millerovo is only about 14 miles from Ukraine's internationally recognized border, though the front line is about 130 miles away. A drone launched from this site would have to fly roughly 200 miles to reach major cities like Kharkiv, or 450 miles to Kyiv.

In an analysis shared with Business Insider, drone threat intelligence firm DroneSec said that the site also includes an isolated construction area to the southeast, which it suspected could be for air defenses.

With four other rails already at the Millerovo air base, this new construction project could bring the total number of Geran launch bays in the area to 12, per DroneSec's analysis.

Mike Monnik, the founder of DroneSec, previously told Reuters that this Russian base could likely launch 100 Geran-5s a day — an assessment that Ukraine's military intelligence agency also reported in late October.

Advanced drones like the jet-powered Geran-5, which began emerging more frequently in early 2026 and are now a common pillar of Russia's regular drone waves, have Ukraine scrambling for solutions.

Cost and quantity are a major factor in this air war. Ukrainian estimates say the Geran-5 costs about $115,000 per drone, compared to the million-dollar missiles Kyiv will have to expend if it cannot develop a cheap, reliable way to counter newer Gerans.

"This is why Russia is making a massive infrastructure bet," Monnik told Business Insider.

The Kremlin launched about 4,000 jet-powered drones, including the Geran-5, in October alone, per Ukrainian reports. That's an average of about 133 daily, a number that could surge as launch sites expand and new ones emerge.

"By standardizing launch bases and building hubs to warehouse thousands of units, they are creating an assembly-line model designed for four-figure saturation waves," Monnik said.