The record What this system is, where it comes from, who operates it and which of Vigil’s modules it is relevant to — with the evidence each of those rests on.
Record
Conflict relevance
This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the modules below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.
Operators
Iran and the Gulf: The originating operator: fired by the Revolutionary Guard's Aerospace Force at Israel in 2024 and at the Gulf states and Israel in 2025 and 2026 — the drone half of every Iranian salvo. · Ansar Allah (Houthi movement): Derivatives are reported in Houthi use against shipping and Saudi Arabia; the extent of supply as against local assembly is disputed. · Russia: licence-built as Geran-2
Battlefield role
Mass, attritional strikes on infrastructure and cities to saturate air defence.
Strengths
Cheap, long range, launched in swarms to overwhelm interceptors; domestic Russian production has scaled continuously.
Limitations
Slow, loud, low precision, and individually easy to shoot down — effect comes from numbers, not survivability.
Campaign relevance
Derived: a participant organisation in these campaigns carries a typed equipment association with this system. That is not the same as documented use of the system in the campaign itself.
- The Saudi–Houthi Red Sea front, 2026 round Since 13 July 2026
via Houthi missile and drone forces (Reported, moderate confidence)
- The Houthi campaign against Red Sea shipping, 2023–2025 November 2023 – October 2025
via Houthi missile and drone forces (Reported, moderate confidence)
Visual identification
Delta-wing planform, rear pusher propeller, ~3.5 m wingspan; a distinctive moped-like engine sound.
Documented conflict use
The defining weapon of the strategic campaign against Ukraine's grid and cities since October 2022; nightly salvo sizes and intercept rates are publicly tracked by both sides.
Documented formations
- IRGC Aerospace Force UAV command Documented · high confidence
Reported & historical formation associations
- Houthi missile and drone forces Reported · moderate confidence
Derivatives of the long-range one-way attack drone, reported in use against shipping and Saudi Arabia under local names.
Related key events
Strategic campaign against Ukraine's grid begins
Massed missile and Shahed-drone salvos against power infrastructure open a recurring seasonal campaign to break civilian endurance through winter darkness and cold.
United States and Israeli strikes on Iran open the war
A large-scale United States and Israeli strike campaign against Iran begins. The Congressional Research Service records more than ten thousand targets struck in Iran by 25 March, and reports the operation's cost as exceeding $11.3bn in its first six days — a figure it notes excludes many associated costs. Iranian retaliation against Israel, United States facilities and Gulf states begins the same day.
Twenty-four ballistic missiles, and none reported intercepted
Russia struck Kyiv oblast and other regions overnight into 5 August 2026 with 115 drones of Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and other types, 24 ballistic missiles, and four missiles Ukraine's Air Force described as the combined category "Zircon/Oniks". The Air Force reported 98 drones destroyed or jammed — roughly 85 per cent — and did not report intercepting any of the missiles. Hits by missiles and 17 drones were recorded at 26 locations. Missiles were launched from Kursk, Rostov and Bryansk oblasts and drones from Kursk, Millerovo, Oryol, occupied Donetsk and Crimea. The State Emergency Service initially reported 14 killed and 22 injured; later reporting put the toll higher as rescue work continued.
The heaviest Houthi attack wave against Saudi territory of this round
The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, states that attacks on civilian and economic sites at Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran wounded 73 people, including women and children, and that fires broke out at oil facilities and utilities in the southern region, where operations were temporarily suspended. The Houthi movement claims strikes with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones on Aramco facilities and on King Khalid air base, and states they answered more than a hundred Saudi air strikes in Yemen over the preceding three days. Türkiye condemns the attacks the same day and reaffirms its support for Saudi sovereignty and territorial integrity. THE WAVE CONTINUED THROUGH THE MONTH AND REACHED THE CAPITAL. On 15 September the coalition reported 13 civilians wounded at Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif and said it had downed a Houthi drone south of Mecca; the movement called the Mecca account a lie and said its targets were oil facilities and military bases. On 17 September Saudi state television reported one person killed and two wounded by debris from a drone intercepted over Taif — the first reported civilian death in Saudi Arabia in this round. At dawn on 19 September the coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired at Riyadh; an eyewitness told Reuters of flames and smoke near King Khalid International Airport, and the movement claimed "sensitive sites" in Riyadh and Aramco facilities at Yanbu. On 24 September the coalition said it had shot down six ballistic missiles fired at Taif and Yanbu, while the movement claimed a "sensitive target" in Riyadh and Aramco infrastructure at Yanbu. On 26 September it said it had intercepted two drones fired towards Riyadh and two ballistic missiles towards Khamis Mushait, and the Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary-General condemned the attacks as a violation of Saudi sovereignty. The movement reported fourteen Saudi air strikes in Yemen on 25 September; no coalition acknowledgement of them has been read. On 1 October the coalition said a drone had struck the Taibah electricity distribution station in Medina, which supplies the Prophet's Mosque, at 05:11 on 29 September. It said one transformer was taken out of service without affecting the wider network, and it attributed the attack to the movement on the evidence of the drone's wreckage. The movement denied involvement. Türkiye, Qatar, the UAE and the Arab League condemned the attack. That evening the Yemeni government's military said it had struck Houthi targets in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz. On 3 October a Reuters witness saw a large plume of smoke and fire near an Aramco facility in Riyadh. The movement claimed a missile and drone strike on Aramco in the capital, the coalition called the claims misleading, and neither Saudi authorities nor Aramco confirmed a strike or gave a cause.
Assessed as of — 2026-06 Last reviewed — 2026-07-11