Role & capabilities
- One-way aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- One-way aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Iranian manufacturer not established in the reviewed platform sources
- Origin / production countries
- Iran
- Other names
- Geran-1; Geran 1
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- Russia — use documented by DIA
Evidence & current status
Identity and use are documented. No speculative numeric specifications or component-level information are included.
Shahed-131 is an Iranian-origin one-way aircraft that Russia calls Geran-1. The US Defense Intelligence Agency’s public comparison identifies it separately from Shahed-136/Geran-2. Its delta-wing layout has upright wingtip stabilisers, while the related larger aircraft has a different stabiliser arrangement. These are documented identity distinctions, not evidence that all parts or performance limits are shared.
DIA’s February 2023 release confirms Russian use and explains that its assessment compares recovered aircraft and imagery from Ukraine and the Middle East. The underlying assessment was current to October 2022, and the agency subsequently published an expanded visual comparison. Ukraine’s military-intelligence sanctions portal also maintains a Geran-1/Shahed-131 entry.
This record brings the Iranian designation and established Russian name together so that readers do not count the same baseline identity twice. It does not assume that every later Russian production batch exactly matches an Iranian specimen. The reviewed platform sources provide stronger evidence for identification and actual use than for current performance. Range, endurance, payload and production totals therefore remain unconfirmed here. Companies connected with an industrial supply network are not automatically treated as the original aircraft designer or final assembler.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Delta wing with upright wingtip stabilisers | DIA identification comparison; not a complete design specification. Source |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Propulsion | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Mass | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Endurance | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Speed | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Altitude | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Sensors | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
Documented milestones
DIA publishes use assessment
The US agency publicly identifies Shahed-131 among Iranian-origin aircraft used by Russia.
Read the announcement
Publication history
- — Published reference update.
Suggest a correction to this entry
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- DIA — Iranian UAVs in Ukraine, August 2023 visual comparison (opens in a new tab)Government / military source
- DIA — public assessment of Russian use, 14 February 2023 (opens in a new tab)Government / military source
- Ukraine GUR — Geran-1/Shahed-131 identity record (opens in a new tab)Government / military source