New Combat UAV to Join Russia’s Unmanned Fleet

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Russia’s armed forces will field long-range armed drones in 2021, according to the state’s media. This is in addition to the S-70 Okhotnik heavy strike drone which is now due in 2024. The move suggests an increased focus on arming unmanned systems at the cutting edge – a few months after Turkish drones chewed up Russian-made air defenses in Syria.

The identity of the new drones has not been disclosed. Russia has developed and tested a number of large unmanned aircraft in the past few years which are at various stages of development. Two of the more advanced models, the Okhotnik, a stealthy attack jet, and the Altius-U, a high-altitude craft with a reported 24-hour endurance, will likely not be fielded for some years.

Samuel Bendett, adviser to the think tank CNA’s Russia program and a specialist in Russian unmanned military systems, says there are a number of likely candidates including Forpost-R, Orion, Korsar and the Orlan-30.

The Korsar is a smaller multipurpose drone with a 22-foot wingspan which has attracted little attention. The Orlan-30 is even smaller with a wingspan of ten feet, but has a strong pedigree: it is an upgraded version of the Orlan-10 tactical reconnaissance drone, the workhorse of the Russian tactical drone fleet, which was introduced in 2010.

According to forbes.com, Bendett evaluates that the new aircraft is likely to be rotated swiftly to Syria, to augment base defenses and to protect Russian forces and allies. Russia appears to have a lot of catching up to do in drone warfare compared to nations like the U.S., which has been using such systems routinely for strikes since 2001.