Ukrainian forces have captured a mysterious Russian unmanned aerial vehicle.
The drone captured by Ukrainian Soldiers looks to be a strike unmanned aerial vehicle that can carry lightweight air-dropped unguided munitions.
According to British-based Conflict Armament Research’s head Damien Spleeters, it is a Russian modern Lastochka-M drone, which was spotted for the first time in late September 2021 during the massive ZAPAD series of military exercises.
According to a British investigator, this drone, as well as some samples of other Russian weaponry and communications equipment, will be examined for the presence of foreign components. This is necessary in order to track their supply chains to Russia.
The Lastochka-M can be equipped with various air-dropped munitions including High Explosive Fragmentation (HE-FRAG) and High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT).
Based on information publicly available, the drone weighs 5.2 kg and can fly 45 km. The maximum endurance is two hours depending on mission profile. The Lastochka-M unmanned aerial vehicle can reach a speed of 120 km/h while attacking the target.
