Ukrainian troops have seized Orlan-10 reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) in transport containers during a rapid counter-offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Volunteer Pavel Kashchuk, known for his analysis of the components of Russia’s military equipment, released imagery that is said to show a Russian Orlan-10 system packed into containers and taken by Ukrainian soldiers from Russian servicemen.
Orlan-10 reconnaissance UAS, which had been left by fleeing Russian soldiers, was assigned to the 15th Army Aviation Brigade.
It is the first time a full complex of Russian reconnaissance UAS along with ground control segment fell into the hands of Ukrainian Soldiers.
Since 24 February, the Russian military has lost at least 80 Orlan reconnaissance drones, according to the team of researchers at the Oryx blog.
The Orlan-10 is a Russian medium-range, multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. It consists of unmanned aerial vehicles along with launch and recovery systems, ground control segment, and swappable payloads. The drone features a modular design with high-wing configuration, while its tail section comprises a tail plane and a vertical stabilizer.
The drone is intended for a variety of missions including aerial reconnaissance, observation, monitoring, search and rescue, combat training, jamming, detection of radio signals, and target tracking.
The Orlan-10 was developed by the Special Technology Center (STC) in Saint Petersburg for the Russian Armed Forces.