Role & capabilities
- Jet-powered one-way aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- One-way aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Iranian manufacturer not established in the reviewed platform source
- Origin / production countries
- Iran
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Geran-3 is a related Russian localisation, covered separately.
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Official recognition is strong; current Iranian service scale and variant performance remain unresolved. Status deliberately does not infer a fleet from exhibition or foreign derivative evidence.
Shahed-238 is the Iranian jet-powered aircraft identified by Ukraine’s military intelligence as the analogue behind Russia’s Geran-3. The distinction matters because Russian localisation is a separate programme, with its own production configuration and evidence. Figures published for a Geran-3 specimen should not be silently reused as specifications for the Iranian aircraft.
In September 2025, GUR stated that it had already published information about Shahed-238 when its public sanctions portal launched in June 2024. That provides official recognition of the Iranian model beyond a manufacturer concept illustration. The September report then describes the Russian localised aircraft separately. This profile uses only that high-level identity and programme relationship.
The evidence reviewed here is insufficient to establish an exact Shahed-238 production standard, current Iranian inventory or a configuration-specific public performance table. It also does not establish that every aircraft described as Geran-3 should carry Shahed-238 as an interchangeable designation. The two entries should be read as related programmes. Current numeric specifications remain unresolved pending a clear manufacturer or government platform document; the use of a jet engine alone does not establish range, endurance, operating altitude or sensor fit.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Propulsion | Jet propulsion | GUR explicitly identifies the Iranian aircraft as jet-powered; no engine model or Russian performance transferred. 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
Official programme relationship documented
GUR distinguishes Iranian Shahed-238 from the Russian Geran-3 localisation.
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.
- Ukraine GUR — distinguishes Shahed-238 from localised Geran-3, 16 September 2025 (opens in a new tab)Government / military source