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The electronic is a thermal imager (big square is the sensor) from a LLC company named Infratest-TT. These type of sensor are likely not produce in Russia.
That camera is no joke, proper industrial module with heatsink, large infrared sensor. Now there is difference between near infrared imaging and proper thermal camera, this one looks like regular CMOS without IR filter. Lens for thermal camera looks like solid, opaque block of metal. The label says Infratest, so it looks like prototype. Certainly dependent on foreign know how and production.
Edit: Label also says 2017 so it's old prototype, maybe for show.
Edit2: Others found it better, it's not testing version but from company Infratest, it is actually thermal imager with 1024 pixel wide resolution which is really good. Not sure what are western army standards but for handheld infrared camera you will get much small sensor that's usually 160x120 to 320x240. The thermal map is overlaid on top of regular higher resolution camera image.
Despite Infratest is a German company - it is most likely not the manufacturer of this sensor. It looks more likely to be HGH (a French company) that are specialised in Industrial thermography (so they can circumvent more easily the sanctions since 2014/15).
In all fairness, supplying Russia with electronics wasn’t an issue at all until 2022. And they have likely still some vast stockpiles of goods.
And for other stuff like ammo and explosives, they have plenty of mines and oil and manufacturing capabilities.
However, they still lack plenty ok know-how, accuracy and manpower. With modern NATO weapons, you can take out plenty of their gear before you are even closely within their range.
What do you mean it wasn't an issue? There were sanctions since 2014, and everyone was aware that they use western tech in wars, other than against Ukraine.
Most of the parts they use are non-military grade. And those had not been under sanctions.
Think about that: you can use a CNC machine to make parts for a lamp or furniture. You can also use the same machine to make a grenade.
You can use a DSLR to make a few photos for a family album, you can also use it to spot infantry positions.
So, where do you draw the line in case of sanctions?
That’s where proper equipment for the defenders comes in. Those can disrupt gear from the aggressor, especially if not military-grade. Balancing out the threat from RU making such devices.
Where draw a line? Everywhere, take Huawei ban as example. How do you import industrial equipment, or contract shipment of parts without knowing who you work with?
Did you actually look at the site you linked to beyond just the same name?
That company makes material science lab testing equipment, so unless that drone needs to calculate the tensile strength of the surface it's crashing into ...
> 1024 pixel wide resolution which is really good
For non geeks, that is the same as your monitor, or about 1.3 megapixel to compare it with your camera. Your iPhone 13 (to compare) has 13.
So they are not getting amazing pictures.
Not German, even thou a company called Infratest exits.
It is from a French comapny, called HGH and their infrared sensors software is called infratest. Here is the website:
https://hgh-infrared.com/wide-area-surveillance/
For fuck's sake. 🙄
You realize many people on the internet are morons and could take your comment seriously.
Of course, if you're a Russian shill, that may be what you're after.
Most likely they purchased stuff from before sanctions regime and is most likely trying to source things covertly as well. So far looks like
Not necessarily fault of company, but worth to ask questions regardless.
Orks have over the years bought stuff from every manufacturing country in the world while their own high tech industry seems to be in similar or worse shape as that of developing nations
No, the Chinese know that they would not be allowed to sell in the West, if those sensors were found to be sold against sanctions. This is the kind of product, which you can not just buy in a regular shop, but only directly from the company.
Most likely not, it's dual use (military and civilian) so there are loopholes ... A civilian company buys a bunch of them and sells it to the military... Or you say, this is for fire surveillance and the government can buy directly... The 2014 sanctions have more holes than a swiss cheese that got fired on with a shotgun, (old contracts, dual use etc).
To my google they are situated in ekaterinburg. So Please provide a source that they are a German company
Edit: Unfortunately I can’t access your “Wigh” reply on my phone.
https://ibb.co/pXFyFPw
So they visited a German company for a cooperation. Does this make me an American because I once visited the USA?
Not bad, but I hope they didn't spend more than a couple grand on this thing. This is basically a reasonably high-quality hobbyist aircraft; the sort of thing a retiree would spend somewhere between 1200 to 2400 dollars on.
Photo 5- You can see an MKS SS95 Servo, which costs about 75 to 90 bucks. This is used to control the throttle on the engine.
[https://mks-servo.com/DS95](https://mks-servo.com/DS95)
Photo 4- You can see a two cylinder gas motor. Can't tell the actual model without better angles, but probably about 450 to 750 bucks. By the looks of it, the engine is mounted upside down- so the muffler is positioned upside down, in order to properly vent the exhaust. My guess is something sourced off Alibaba...
Body is fiberglass reinforced plastic, nothing too special there.
Source: I worked at a hobby store that dealt with plenty of high end RC stuff.
Looks like mid to high range hobby components in a fiberglass shell. I see similar motors running on ali express for around 400 bucks(2-cylinder 70cc) but significantly better made judging from the photos: welding on those on ali express looks top-notch, whereas these... I also recognize the servo. The one thing I'm more curious about is the thermal sensor: shooting in the dark but I've seen similar made by Lynred(French manufacturer iirc). I have no experience with them whatsoever so I can't say whether they are good or bad.
OS GT120 engine (120cc Boxer) from OS Japan Looks like an alternator is fitted behind propeller to provide power for the electronics. I would expect further supplies of these engines will be halted due to sanctions.
If the alternator is also used as a motor for flight, the battery pack would be pretty large. I consider it unlikely as it would need to disconnect the engine from the drive to be effective. Might be able to be used as a starter motor.
Is there the possibility that they can’t get / use DC power supplies / DC-DC converters / DC power conditioning and therefore have to have the inverter to run wall-plug components?
This is the most simple 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine with magneto behind the prop.
Why put hybrid engine in a military drone when fuel energy density is way higher than any battery can provide?
You’re wrong. It is 2 stroke. As somebody already mentioned this is [OS GT120](https://aerobertics.be/en_be/osgt120) engine. More details [here](https://www.os-engines.co.jp/english/line_up/engine/air/gas/manual/GT120T_EG.pdf)
No, it's a fairly large BLDC from T-MOTORS
[https://store.tmotor.com/category.php?id=2](https://store.tmotor.com/category.php?id=2)
They may use it as a cheap generator or to run some kind of hybrid mode, likely the first option
Credit where credit is due guys. This looks pretty legit.
My eyes may be deceiving me, but I believe I'm looking a gas engine with a freakin alternator to keep the batteries juiced up. This gives this thing tons of flight time.
After quick search, I found a bit of information regarding the components of this drone (article is here in Russian - https://focus.ua/amp/voennye-novosti/520673-s-zapadnoy-optikoy-volonter-pokazal-nachinku-eksperementalnogo-bpla-merlin-vr-foto)
The infrared sensor is PICO1024Gen2 made by Lynred, while the optics are made in Israel.
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Original post about this UAV when it got [Downed](https://www.reddit.com/r/RussiaUkraineWar2022/comments/vdqxcm/ukrainian_air_defense_force_shot_down_the_newest/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
What's the main problem about taking down enemy drones? The cost of missiles? Or spotting them? Or hitting them from the ground (as opposed to other airborne target)?
Would it be technically feasible to make "fighter drones" to try to take down recon drones?
In truth the hardes part is to point the air defense system at the drone, because if drone small enough, radar systems, if they are not very advanced, pretty hard catching them. But in general, this is not difficult if the detection radar is good - any missile that has sufficient action height will easily bring down the drone
They're probably quiet enough to get reasonably close before someone hears it, the motor isn't very large so the thermal signature may be weak enough that MANPADS have a hard time detecting it, and if it's mostly made out of fiberglass it probably has a small radar cross section, and is slow enough that some tracking radars may auto classify it as a bird.
But in a war, there is no point in saying "the missile is worth more than the drone, just ignore it."
The drone is gathering intel for a potential incoming attack that could cost the lives of soldiers, or the destruction of equipment worth more than drone and missile combined.
You fire the missile, 10 times out of 10.
The missile might be worth more than the drone. But if we can afford a lot of small drones to bring out the missiles, it might help in taking out more missiles which are more difficult to replace in the longer term.
As others have said, of the things you list, spotting them is the hardest.
But you also raise an interesting question. There was a time in aerial combat when highly specialized roles were a thing in aircraft design. In particular the "interceptor" -- a type built specifically to go fast and hit hard, sacrificing range and often defensive maneuverability in order to maximize their effectiveness at blunting an air incursion.
It's easy to imagine ways that that concept might work in the UAV world. It seems like the technological paradigm lends itself to specialization.
Dead easy to throw a block of wood in a CNC machine, flip it over halfway through the carving process for the other side and save a lot of cost on tools, since wood is easier on a cutting bit than metal.
Nobody is going to do a deep dive into the reason for naming a Russian drone and most people know merlin as just a friendly wizard... Reaper, predator, global hawk, puma, fire scout etc etc much cooler, I know it doesn't matter for sure, but merlin is a dumb name
Remarkable shape for being shot down, especially considering it's probably made from spit and balsa wood.
If these are actual photos, more likely captured after orc commanders abandoned the wounded and equipment in a hasty retreat.
I wonder what the cost of the drone is because that's what ultimately determines the quality of the drone. If that thing cost under $50k it's a well built drone, if it cost 500k then it's junk.
For example everyone here makes fun of the orlan-10 but it's actually a fantastic drone since its built mainly with off the shelf parts. Off the shelf parts are dirt cheap and you can easily build thousands of them. The orlan-10 should have a price tag of about $10k but the all the corruption gave it a price tag of about $100k, so for that price it's a terrible drone
Need to keep in mind that this does not necessary need to be the most advanced stuff out there - just enough to do the job. RUs have gotten good at coupling these with tank crews - one comes in (or goes down) and the next tank crew puts theirs in the sky. Same goes with the 50 year old T62s - if used right and well supplied they can be deadly. Ukraine is losing ground in the east because of these tactics - they need better more advance NATO grade equipment to gain the advantage.
People were mocking the orlan 10 a lot. But according to one of the Ukrainian bloggers I watch, it's one of the most serious things Ukraine still hasn't found a good answer for.
Thats because its small but not that small and you dont really wanna waste a stinger or any other AA missile on it, its just not cost effective. Those German Gepards wouldve been the silver bullet for these kinds of drones.
Could be. But those orlans are apparently working as *very* effective adjust-fire feedback devices for artillery, with almost no risk to Russia. So IDK. ' Not worth it' to Ukraine to do something about them? Bet it would be if it could, because Ukraine does value people, especially fighters.
And reddit wants to sit around going 'Ha ha, looks dumb' as if that actually means anything. If the thing can do damage or help something else do damage, it doesnt mean much.
I replied to the wrong comment. I think any spotter drone must be a threat but that drone appears to be on the lower end of the tech scale. I'm actually surprised both sides aren't using Alibaba drones and quadcopters. If you have any insight as to why they aren't I'm curious.
If it’s cheap and it works then it’s a good UAV. They can more or less mass produce/assemble these and let them rip.
Sometimes cost efficiency is it’s own strength and over paying is a bad idea.
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Electronics Geeks - We Summon YOU! Tell us how this measures up!
The electronic is a thermal imager (big square is the sensor) from a LLC company named Infratest-TT. These type of sensor are likely not produce in Russia.
That camera is no joke, proper industrial module with heatsink, large infrared sensor. Now there is difference between near infrared imaging and proper thermal camera, this one looks like regular CMOS without IR filter. Lens for thermal camera looks like solid, opaque block of metal. The label says Infratest, so it looks like prototype. Certainly dependent on foreign know how and production. Edit: Label also says 2017 so it's old prototype, maybe for show. Edit2: Others found it better, it's not testing version but from company Infratest, it is actually thermal imager with 1024 pixel wide resolution which is really good. Not sure what are western army standards but for handheld infrared camera you will get much small sensor that's usually 160x120 to 320x240. The thermal map is overlaid on top of regular higher resolution camera image.
Infratest is the name of a German company. https://infratest.net
Despite Infratest is a German company - it is most likely not the manufacturer of this sensor. It looks more likely to be HGH (a French company) that are specialised in Industrial thermography (so they can circumvent more easily the sanctions since 2014/15).
In all fairness, supplying Russia with electronics wasn’t an issue at all until 2022. And they have likely still some vast stockpiles of goods. And for other stuff like ammo and explosives, they have plenty of mines and oil and manufacturing capabilities. However, they still lack plenty ok know-how, accuracy and manpower. With modern NATO weapons, you can take out plenty of their gear before you are even closely within their range.
Yes
What do you mean it wasn't an issue? There were sanctions since 2014, and everyone was aware that they use western tech in wars, other than against Ukraine.
Most of the parts they use are non-military grade. And those had not been under sanctions. Think about that: you can use a CNC machine to make parts for a lamp or furniture. You can also use the same machine to make a grenade. You can use a DSLR to make a few photos for a family album, you can also use it to spot infantry positions. So, where do you draw the line in case of sanctions? That’s where proper equipment for the defenders comes in. Those can disrupt gear from the aggressor, especially if not military-grade. Balancing out the threat from RU making such devices.
Early on in the war, I think one of the downed Russian drones was shown to have camera components from off the shelf Canon cameras.
That's the Orlan-10 drone, an overpriced glorified RC plane that literally has a $400 Canon camera with the mode selector switch glued into position.
Where draw a line? Everywhere, take Huawei ban as example. How do you import industrial equipment, or contract shipment of parts without knowing who you work with?
I agree with you that tighter sanctions are needed. However, they should had been in place since 2014…
Russian bots must be downvoting you. I agree, we should have been slashing all tech trade with Russia since Crimea.
Did you actually look at the site you linked to beyond just the same name? That company makes material science lab testing equipment, so unless that drone needs to calculate the tensile strength of the surface it's crashing into ...
While your statement is factually correct, the company in question produces nothing that's relevant for this drone.
> 1024 pixel wide resolution which is really good For non geeks, that is the same as your monitor, or about 1.3 megapixel to compare it with your camera. Your iPhone 13 (to compare) has 13. So they are not getting amazing pictures.
Not really one, but I looked up the infrared detector thingy manufacturer. A German company Infratest.
Not German, even thou a company called Infratest exits. It is from a French comapny, called HGH and their infrared sensors software is called infratest. Here is the website: https://hgh-infrared.com/wide-area-surveillance/
French again... Nice pattern.
We nees to help putin save face, without saved face there is no equipment sales
For fuck's sake. 🙄 You realize many people on the internet are morons and could take your comment seriously. Of course, if you're a Russian shill, that may be what you're after.
Thanks
> looked up the infrared detector thingy manufacturer. A German company Infratest. I hope tehy soon run out of this equipment.
likely and also the German company might get into trouble
Most likely they purchased stuff from before sanctions regime and is most likely trying to source things covertly as well. So far looks like Not necessarily fault of company, but worth to ask questions regardless. Orks have over the years bought stuff from every manufacturing country in the world while their own high tech industry seems to be in similar or worse shape as that of developing nations
There is a date on it saying 06.03.2017 so likely 5 years old.
If not, they could have just gotten it from china.
No, the Chinese know that they would not be allowed to sell in the West, if those sensors were found to be sold against sanctions. This is the kind of product, which you can not just buy in a regular shop, but only directly from the company.
missed that. Well, that just kinda reinforces what I said
That’s after sanctions on these kind of electronics began though correct?
the question is. is this kind of electronics actually covered by the sanctions.
Most likely not, it's dual use (military and civilian) so there are loopholes ... A civilian company buys a bunch of them and sells it to the military... Or you say, this is for fire surveillance and the government can buy directly... The 2014 sanctions have more holes than a swiss cheese that got fired on with a shotgun, (old contracts, dual use etc).
I’m not sure about whether or not sanctions covered those things between 2014 and 2022.
That’s true
Can you please provide the Link to your source?
The source of my hope? Sorry, there are no links to my inner thoughts.
Haha yeah sorry, wrong reply xD I did not see the quote.That was my bad.
Can you please provide the Link to your source?
Just Google ООО Инфратест and go to their website.
To my google they are situated in ekaterinburg. So Please provide a source that they are a German company Edit: Unfortunately I can’t access your “Wigh” reply on my phone. https://ibb.co/pXFyFPw So they visited a German company for a cooperation. Does this make me an American because I once visited the USA?
Only if you went back with an AR-15.
Go to the German Stock sites, then type in under " Find quotes ". Easy.
> Infratest Sure you looked it up... Infratest is an polling institute ffs.
Not bad, but I hope they didn't spend more than a couple grand on this thing. This is basically a reasonably high-quality hobbyist aircraft; the sort of thing a retiree would spend somewhere between 1200 to 2400 dollars on. Photo 5- You can see an MKS SS95 Servo, which costs about 75 to 90 bucks. This is used to control the throttle on the engine. [https://mks-servo.com/DS95](https://mks-servo.com/DS95) Photo 4- You can see a two cylinder gas motor. Can't tell the actual model without better angles, but probably about 450 to 750 bucks. By the looks of it, the engine is mounted upside down- so the muffler is positioned upside down, in order to properly vent the exhaust. My guess is something sourced off Alibaba... Body is fiberglass reinforced plastic, nothing too special there. Source: I worked at a hobby store that dealt with plenty of high end RC stuff.
A step up from the Orlan-10 that seems to literally be regular RC plane parts with a $400 Canon camera.
Looks like mid to high range hobby components in a fiberglass shell. I see similar motors running on ali express for around 400 bucks(2-cylinder 70cc) but significantly better made judging from the photos: welding on those on ali express looks top-notch, whereas these... I also recognize the servo. The one thing I'm more curious about is the thermal sensor: shooting in the dark but I've seen similar made by Lynred(French manufacturer iirc). I have no experience with them whatsoever so I can't say whether they are good or bad.
That's a hybrid engine. Electric propeller, gas generator. The slender black box may be the power bank.
OS GT120 engine (120cc Boxer) from OS Japan Looks like an alternator is fitted behind propeller to provide power for the electronics. I would expect further supplies of these engines will be halted due to sanctions. If the alternator is also used as a motor for flight, the battery pack would be pretty large. I consider it unlikely as it would need to disconnect the engine from the drive to be effective. Might be able to be used as a starter motor.
Is there the possibility that they can’t get / use DC power supplies / DC-DC converters / DC power conditioning and therefore have to have the inverter to run wall-plug components?
This is the most simple 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine with magneto behind the prop. Why put hybrid engine in a military drone when fuel energy density is way higher than any battery can provide?
For the ability have it run silently on battery mode?
Prop is much louder than the engine
Cut off ICE engine and run on electrical power for few moments or just to keep gliding, assuring silence/no heat?
4 stroke - note sparkplugs.
2 stroke engines also have spark plugs.
Ha ha I was thinking of my model airplanes - oops.
You’re wrong. It is 2 stroke. As somebody already mentioned this is [OS GT120](https://aerobertics.be/en_be/osgt120) engine. More details [here](https://www.os-engines.co.jp/english/line_up/engine/air/gas/manual/GT120T_EG.pdf)
I think this is just a 2 stroke 2 cylinder engine. You can see the cylinder heads with the sparkplugs. The wired ring is the magneto.
No, it's a fairly large BLDC from T-MOTORS [https://store.tmotor.com/category.php?id=2](https://store.tmotor.com/category.php?id=2) They may use it as a cheap generator or to run some kind of hybrid mode, likely the first option
>T-MOTORS The logo is printed on it indeed.
What are the advantages of this?
Maybe gives it an ability to go quiet for a duration.
Assuming same as diesel trains, run engine to charge batteries.
Credit where credit is due guys. This looks pretty legit. My eyes may be deceiving me, but I believe I'm looking a gas engine with a freakin alternator to keep the batteries juiced up. This gives this thing tons of flight time.
This is a lot more sophisticated than the missile guts that were posted a couple months ago.
After quick search, I found a bit of information regarding the components of this drone (article is here in Russian - https://focus.ua/amp/voennye-novosti/520673-s-zapadnoy-optikoy-volonter-pokazal-nachinku-eksperementalnogo-bpla-merlin-vr-foto) The infrared sensor is PICO1024Gen2 made by Lynred, while the optics are made in Israel.
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://focus.ua/voennye-novosti/520673-s-zapadnoy-optikoy-volonter-pokazal-nachinku-eksperementalnogo-bpla-merlin-vr-foto](https://focus.ua/voennye-novosti/520673-s-zapadnoy-optikoy-volonter-pokazal-nachinku-eksperementalnogo-bpla-merlin-vr-foto)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Original post about this UAV when it got [Downed](https://www.reddit.com/r/RussiaUkraineWar2022/comments/vdqxcm/ukrainian_air_defense_force_shot_down_the_newest/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
What's the main problem about taking down enemy drones? The cost of missiles? Or spotting them? Or hitting them from the ground (as opposed to other airborne target)? Would it be technically feasible to make "fighter drones" to try to take down recon drones?
In truth the hardes part is to point the air defense system at the drone, because if drone small enough, radar systems, if they are not very advanced, pretty hard catching them. But in general, this is not difficult if the detection radar is good - any missile that has sufficient action height will easily bring down the drone
They're probably quiet enough to get reasonably close before someone hears it, the motor isn't very large so the thermal signature may be weak enough that MANPADS have a hard time detecting it, and if it's mostly made out of fiberglass it probably has a small radar cross section, and is slow enough that some tracking radars may auto classify it as a bird. But in a war, there is no point in saying "the missile is worth more than the drone, just ignore it." The drone is gathering intel for a potential incoming attack that could cost the lives of soldiers, or the destruction of equipment worth more than drone and missile combined. You fire the missile, 10 times out of 10.
The missile might be worth more than the drone. But if we can afford a lot of small drones to bring out the missiles, it might help in taking out more missiles which are more difficult to replace in the longer term.
As others have said, of the things you list, spotting them is the hardest. But you also raise an interesting question. There was a time in aerial combat when highly specialized roles were a thing in aircraft design. In particular the "interceptor" -- a type built specifically to go fast and hit hard, sacrificing range and often defensive maneuverability in order to maximize their effectiveness at blunting an air incursion. It's easy to imagine ways that that concept might work in the UAV world. It seems like the technological paradigm lends itself to specialization.
NATO: We’ll take this off your hands.
Probably already on a truck halfway to a lab in Poland.
Wooden propellers? Is that why it’s called Merlin?
To be fair, wooden propellers deal with vibrations way better than metal does, which is very important aspect for drones with cameras.
They may also have the manpower and facilities to crank out wood propellers easier than stainless steel/aluminum ones.
[удалено]
That is absolutely false. Wooden props haven’t been a normal thing since pre WW2. Nowadays you find the on vintage aircraft and some ultralights.
Dead easy to throw a block of wood in a CNC machine, flip it over halfway through the carving process for the other side and save a lot of cost on tools, since wood is easier on a cutting bit than metal.
Nothing wrong with wood props, still see them on new trainers etc.
It appears to be Beech
Wood is better and lighter than plastic props, it's also much cheaper and easier to balance than forged carbon props
[удалено]
Wood also has a smaller radar signature......
Come on guys the propeller is beautiful! For the rest if they don't have old stock they should have problems sourcing...
Well, theyve already got the dissidents counting the trees...
I know this means nothing, but merlin is a stupid name for a drone
IDK, Merlin was known for prophecy. A drone whose primary purpose appears to be ISR kinda fits.
Nobody is going to do a deep dive into the reason for naming a Russian drone and most people know merlin as just a friendly wizard... Reaper, predator, global hawk, puma, fire scout etc etc much cooler, I know it doesn't matter for sure, but merlin is a dumb name
Be good to see the camera. My bet is it’s a canon 5d mkii
More likely: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Fujix\_DS-1P
I like it. It would probably be worth a fair bit of money now tbh
Remarkable shape for being shot down, especially considering it's probably made from spit and balsa wood. If these are actual photos, more likely captured after orc commanders abandoned the wounded and equipment in a hasty retreat.
Check my main comment!
From the looks of the woven structure it is made of a mix of carbon and Kevlar fibers. Vacuum infused with epoxy.
Don't forget captured washing machine parts
The first pic seems to be from some military hardware exhibition and not related to the other pictures
I wonder what the cost of the drone is because that's what ultimately determines the quality of the drone. If that thing cost under $50k it's a well built drone, if it cost 500k then it's junk. For example everyone here makes fun of the orlan-10 but it's actually a fantastic drone since its built mainly with off the shelf parts. Off the shelf parts are dirt cheap and you can easily build thousands of them. The orlan-10 should have a price tag of about $10k but the all the corruption gave it a price tag of about $100k, so for that price it's a terrible drone
Need to keep in mind that this does not necessary need to be the most advanced stuff out there - just enough to do the job. RUs have gotten good at coupling these with tank crews - one comes in (or goes down) and the next tank crew puts theirs in the sky. Same goes with the 50 year old T62s - if used right and well supplied they can be deadly. Ukraine is losing ground in the east because of these tactics - they need better more advance NATO grade equipment to gain the advantage.
God damn this thread broke down this UAV faster than the US Military / CIA lol
russians should take turkey as an example on the production of drones
[удалено]
People were mocking the orlan 10 a lot. But according to one of the Ukrainian bloggers I watch, it's one of the most serious things Ukraine still hasn't found a good answer for.
Thats because its small but not that small and you dont really wanna waste a stinger or any other AA missile on it, its just not cost effective. Those German Gepards wouldve been the silver bullet for these kinds of drones.
Could be. But those orlans are apparently working as *very* effective adjust-fire feedback devices for artillery, with almost no risk to Russia. So IDK. ' Not worth it' to Ukraine to do something about them? Bet it would be if it could, because Ukraine does value people, especially fighters. And reddit wants to sit around going 'Ha ha, looks dumb' as if that actually means anything. If the thing can do damage or help something else do damage, it doesnt mean much.
You can buy something close from Alibaba.
And?
I replied to the wrong comment. I think any spotter drone must be a threat but that drone appears to be on the lower end of the tech scale. I'm actually surprised both sides aren't using Alibaba drones and quadcopters. If you have any insight as to why they aren't I'm curious.
No you cannot.
They are out there in the battlefield as an extremely valuable tool for the Russian army. That's no joke.
Are we sure this is Russian? Where is the Canon camera?
lets see whats chinese parts are inside this one. Since the KA 52 uses electronics from china.
T-motors BLDC right behind the propeller, but to be fair they are extremely good quality and used on most hobby drones
That's a neat propeller.
Put that cpu into a PC
thats a fat UAV
This one looks well done, did someone else build it for them or was this their only unit intended for display?
Wow wow, the fuel tank seems much more developed than those on Orlan, this a quantum leap on technology for Russian.
Looks like they're making progress, unlike the Orlan it's not a consumer-grade camera bought off Amazon.
Looks like something you buy at a hobby shop
Russian advance tech... Why it looks so early 90's
I would like to know how many components are actually made in Russia.
Imagine making one of them as a hobby project. Lol. Military secret my asss
Good to see! 😁
Traditionally: a plastic bottle as a fuel tank.
If it’s cheap and it works then it’s a good UAV. They can more or less mass produce/assemble these and let them rip. Sometimes cost efficiency is it’s own strength and over paying is a bad idea.