Orion (Pacer) Military Drone

Main article: Military drones in Russia

2024: Orion-E drone announcement

In early August 2024, it became known that the Russian company Kronstadt had released the Orion-E reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle, which has a long flight duration. The complex is designed for conducting aerial radar, radio engineering and optical-electronic reconnaissance and destruction of single ground and surface objects.

The drone is of the aircraft type. It has a wingspan of 16 metres and a maximum take-off weight of 1150 kg. Flight altitude can reach 7500 m, cruising speed - 200 km/h. Piston internal combustion engine is used as power plant. The declared flight duration is up to 30 hours.

source = Rosoboronexport

Orion-E can be used to perform various tasks. Among them are named air reconnaissance and patrolling, target designation, topographic reconnaissance of the area, assessment of the results of strikes, radar reconnaissance, radio technical reconnaissance, etc. The drone can be equipped with various payloads:

• Multifunctional optical-electronic system: search and detection of ground targets in the visible and infrared ranges, measurement of the range to the target, illumination of the target with a laser target indicator;
• Digital aerial photography system: high-resolution aerial photography of the underlying surface of the earth;
• Multifunctional radar station: mapping the ground surface in the radar range, detection of stationary and mobile objects;
• Equipment for radio and radio technical reconnaissance: direction finding and location determination of sources of radio communication signals and radio technical means.

The drone can carry up to six adjustable aerial bombs and up to four guided missiles on board. The maximum weight of the combat load is 200 kg.^[1]

Notes