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Kronshtadt Orion – The Combat Performance of the Russian UCAV

January 2, 2021

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Kronshtadt Orion is a mid-sized UAV class, equipped with a gasoline engine with a capacity of about 100 horsepower.

Introduce

Sources from Russia said that the Orion drone is a product of the Kronshtadt Group, in order to meet the Russian Army’s request for a type of unmanned combat aerial vehicle. Both domestic and export versions of Orion have been introduced since 2017. The export version is designated Orion-2 Helios.

Most recently, Kronshtadt brought the Orion-E UAV to display at the Security and Defense Exhibition – LAAD 2019 in Brazil and the Langkawi – LIMA 2019 International Maritime and Aviation Exhibition in Malaysia.

Design

The appearance of the aircraft has similarities with the UAV Wing Loong of China and the US МQ-9 Reaper. Orion is one of the largest Russian-made UAVs, it has a wingspan of 16 meters and a fuselage length of 8 meters. Thanks to the fuselage structure made of composite materials, the UCAV is quite impressive in size and weighs only about a ton.

The UAV is designed with a high-wing placement and the tail in the form of a V-shaped tail, to dually serve as vertical and horizontal stabilizers, with an engine on the tail-end.

Powerplant

Orion is a mid-sized UAV class, equipped with a gasoline engine with a capacity of about 100 horsepower.

The service ceiling of the Orion UAV is 7,500m, and the maximum flight duration is 24 hours with standard payload. The maximum speed of 200 km/h.

Armament

UCAV Orion was originally developed for reconnaissance missions only. The aircraft is equipped with thermal imaging system, wide-angle camera, and a target detection system.

By 2018, Kronshtadt developed an armed UAV version, the Orion-E. Orion-E can carry four guided bombs or four missiles and has maximum payload of 200 kg. Its scouting and reconnaissance features remain the same.