Page 94 - Combat Aircraft (January 2020)

‘Syrian experience displayed to Russian forces small enough for the Orion to carry without
the need to have available drones that can sacrificing much of its performance.
range for hundreds of kilometers and then The Kremlin is working on several types of
deliver a strike, without [troops] calling for drones. Perhaps most notably, a heavyweight,
manned aviation and without putting manned jet-powered drone that appeared in public for
aerial assets at risk’, Bendett added. the first time in January 2019. The Hunter-B is
‘With Orion in the Russian forces, a significant a rough analogue of the US military’s MQ-25
gap in ISR and strike capability can be closed. tanker drone and RQ-170 spy drone as well as
While mass use of this UAV is still some time China’s Tian Ying.
away, the fact that it was supposedly tested in As their development continues, the Hunter-B
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE Syria signifies the Russian ministry of defense’s and Orion could run into some of the same
drive to acquire sophisticated weapons that can
problems. Besides the relative immaturity
OF AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY extend Russian forces’ operational range while of Russia’s efforts to produce small, guided
BY DAVID AXE giving them greater precision capabilities.’ weapons to arm the drones, there’s also the
The Kremlin has not disclosed what kinds issue of manpower.
RUSSIA’S KILLER of munitions Orion carried in Syria. US armed and analysts to effectively operate a single ‘orbit’
It takes hundreds of maintainers, operators
drones routinely carry small, laser-guided
DRONE MAKES bombs as well as laser-guided anti-tank missiles. of three or four drones that’s capable of keeping
a single UAV over a target area for long periods
Kronshtadt Group has demonstrated munitions
and bombs that weigh up to 50kg, making them
of time. The US military has spent more than
STRIKES IN SYRIA two decades developing a pool of manpower
that now supports hundreds of Reaper drones
The Orion’s organized into nearly 50 orbits.
USSIA’S FIRST ARMED drone has Russia by contrast has just begun to train
completed combat trials in Syria and apparent success drone crews. But they’re learning fast, Tom
is now beginning to equip units in Cooper, an author and Russian military
Russia for further testing, state media signals an important aerospace expert, told Combat Aircraft. ‘The first
reported on November 1. turning point for the generation of pilots and ground crews for UAVs
R The armed, satellite-controlled just completed their four-years-long training,
Orion, a product of the Kronshtadt Group, is Kremlin, which has lagged and they meanwhile have plenty of experience
roughly similar to the US Air Force’s own Predator in operating smaller UAVs in Syria.’
drone, which the American flying branch retired far behind the US and even According to TASS, the Russian Aerospace
in 2017 after the type had served for more than Forces are considering establishing mixed units
20 years. The USAF continues to operate larger Chinese militaries in the to operate drones such as the Orion alongside
Reaper drones from the same manufacturer, manned aircraft. That would represent a
General Atomics. development of armed, departure from the American model, which
‘The Orion drone in its attack configuration can
carry up to four missiles, which it successfully test- unmanned aircraft organizes unmanned aircraft into their own
squadrons and wings.
fired in Syria’, an unnamed source told TASS. ‘The
drone has started arriving for Russian troops for its The Orion is roughly similar to the
operational evaluation, after which the command USAF’s now-retired Predator. KT Group
will make a decision on launching it into serial
production and accepting it for service.’
TASS described the Orion as a ‘medium-altitude,
long-endurance drone with a maximum take-off
weight of one ton and a maximum payload of
200kg. The drone has a service ceiling of 7.5km
and its maximum flight duration with the standard
payload is 24 hours. The drone can develop a
speed of up 200km/h.’
It’s unclear when or how long the Orion was in
Syria and exactly what missions it performed. But
the drone’s apparent success signals an important
turning point for the Kremlin, which has lagged far
behind the US and even Chinese militaries in the
development of armed, unmanned aircraft.
‘Russian forces are starting to get their ‘missing
element’ — long-range [intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance, ISR] and combat UAVs that
were not available to the military until recently’,
Samuel Bendett, a drone expert with the Center
for Naval Analysis, told Combat Aircraft.

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