What is inside cheap Gerbera drone Russia uses as decoy for Ukrainian air defense?

Defense Express notes that since summer, Russia has been actively launching at Ukraine the Gerbera UAVs, which are made from inexpensive materials - the body is constructed from foam and plywood, held together with screws and hot melt adhesives.

Recently, photos showing almost all the electronic components of this drone were shared by specialist Serhii Beskrestnov. 

The publication writes that, based on the picture, the drone has just two circuit boards, one of which handles navigation. It features the NEO-M8N-0 navigation module from Swiss company Ublox, which costs $31.50 on their website but is much cheaper on Chinese marketplaces. It also appears to include a simple gyroscope-accelerometer.

The second board in the Gerbera drone appears to be a step-up voltage converter, as indicated by its components, with themain part being the XL6009E1 module, which can cost as little as one dollar.

From photos, it's clear that these two boards are housed in a plastic box attached to the walls of the drone's plywood "hardware compartment." One of the photos even shows a more complex setup that includes a 4G modem with a card from a Ukrainian mobile operator.

Overall, the cost of the electronic parts for the Gerbera drone is very low, along with the other materials needed for its construction. The assembly process itself doesn’t require high skill levels. Therefore, the most expensive component of the drone is likely the engine, but similar engines can be found for just a few tens of dollars, especially with bulk discounts, Defense Express concluded.

• Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko analyzed Russian forces' use of Shahed-131/136 (Gerbera) drones, FPV drones, and Lancet barrage munitions during the first two weeks of September.