Upgraded ZIRKA interceptor drone downs a jet-powered Geran-5 at about 400 km/h, developer says

TLDR

• ZRK.tech says an upgraded ZIRKA interceptor destroyed a jet-powered Geran-5 at about 400 km/h and 3,500 metres.¹²
• The Retro crew of the Darknode battalion, 412th Nemesis Brigade, flew the mission; specifications of the upgraded version are undisclosed.¹²
• The claim comes from the developer's own video, published on 31 October, and has not been independently verified.²

An upgraded version of Ukraine's ZIRKA interceptor drone chased down and destroyed a jet-powered Russian Geran-5 drone at about 400 km/h and an altitude of 3,500 metres, according to ZRK.tech, the technology project behind the interceptor.¹² Euromaidan Press says the developer published the interception video on 31 October.² Militarnyi reports that the Retro crew of the Darknode Battalion, part of the 412th Nemesis Brigade, carried out the interception, and that the brigade's personnel have been involved in the interceptor's development from the start.¹ Euromaidan Press describes the brigade as part of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces.² ZRK has not disclosed the upgraded drone's specifications.¹²

ZIRKA was developed by the Ukrainian company NOCTIS and first unveiled in June 2026, with investment support and technical expertise from Vyriy Industries.¹ The first version reportedly had a top speed above 340 km/h, a ceiling of 6 km, a stated range of 30 km and 20 minutes of endurance.¹ Euromaidan Press adds that its makers priced it at up to $2,000 a unit and called it the cheapest interceptor in its class with automatic guidance, but notes that the original speed fell short of the bursts reached by Russia's jet-powered Shahed variants.² It also reports, citing Militarnyi and the Ukrainian outlet ITC, that ZIRKA downed a jet-powered Geran-4 in late July by meeting it head-on or from the side rather than chasing it from behind.²

According to Militarnyi, the drone carries a Raspberry Pi 5 running a trained computer vision model that analyses each video frame in real time for features of Shahed-type drones, detects targets up to 1 km away, and, once the operator confirms the target, tracks it autonomously, leaving the pilot to adjust closing speed.¹ Militarnyi says the footage suggests the upgraded version has the same system; Euromaidan Press reaches the same reading from the video, which shows the software flagging the Geran-5 and then switching to automatic terminal guidance.¹² Euromaidan Press also reports that NOCTIS claims the machine vision makes ZIRKA up to 60 per cent more effective against manoeuvring targets than manual piloting, a figure it attributes to ITC.²

Why it matters: a cheap AI-assisted interceptor is credited with a kill on a jet-powered Geran, the faster class that, Euromaidan Press says, slips past many cheap interceptors built for propeller Shaheds, but the evidence is one developer-published video, the outlets covering it draw on Militarnyi and ZRK.tech rather than independent confirmation, and the upgraded drone's performance figures have not been published.¹²