# Russia Expands Underground Geran Drone Production With 42,000 m² Complex at Alabuga

*Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 12:05 PM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-09-19T12:05:41.084Z (2h ago)
**Category**: intelligence | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 7/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/18289.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: Russia is moving Geran (Shahed-type) kamikaze drone production underground at the Alabuga special economic zone, where about 42,000 square meters of subterranean facilities and dozens of anti-drone net towers have reportedly been built after Ukrainian strikes.

Russia is reshaping part of its drone industry by taking it underground.

Reporting on 19 September says Moscow is building extensive underground production space for Geran drones, the Russian designation for Shahed-type loitering munitions, at the Alabuga special economic zone. About 42,000 square meters of subterranean facilities have reportedly been completed for future manufacturing capacity.

The same site has added dozens of anti-drone net towers, indicating that planners see Ukrainian attacks as a live threat even deep inside Russian territory. According to the reporting, the decision to expand below ground followed the first Ukrainian strikes on Alabuga, which has become a focal point for Russia’s drone program.

Moving production underground makes the facilities harder to hit and harder to monitor. Subsurface halls are less exposed to blast damage from precision strikes and more difficult to map from the air. At the same time, protecting the area with anti-drone nets complicates any future Ukrainian attempt to damage the complex directly.

For Ukraine, which faces regular Geran/Shahed drone attacks on its cities and infrastructure, the expansion at Alabuga signals that Russia intends to sustain or increase its use of these weapons while making the production chain more resilient. Even if surface structures are targeted, the core manufacturing capacity may prove tougher to disrupt once it is buried and ringed with defenses.

The construction also intersects with wider efforts to pressure Russia’s war economy. Western governments have tried to limit Moscow’s access to components for drone production. By concentrating key facilities in a fortified special economic zone and driving a significant share of activity underground, Russia can complicate both intelligence-gathering and sanctions enforcement aimed at the companies and supply routes feeding its drone lines.

Future satellite imagery of Alabuga, changes in the tempo of Geran strikes on Ukraine, and any new disclosures about the site’s supporting infrastructure will help show how much this underground expansion alters the practical impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s drone industry.