Ukrainian forces intercepted a Russian drone and opened it to study its technology

Ukrainian forces intercepted a Russian drone and opened it in order to learn about the technology with which it operates. A video released by the country's own Ministry of Defense shows a military man inspecting the apparatus.

The drone, which is an Orlan-10, crashed somewhere in Ukraine which was not reported by the country's authorities.

In the video the soldier shows the components of the military drone. According to some experts, certain aspects of the Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) look more like an amateur-made artifact than a piece of high-tech military espionage technology, Peta Pixel reported.

The soldier discovered that one of the drone's main cameras is a Canon EOS Rebel T6i. The camera is one of the simplest on the market, which costs approximately $750.

On top of the aerial vehicle, the fuel tank cap was made with some kind of plastic water bottle. In addition, several parts of the drone were fixed with adhesive tape.

Most Russian military drones are relatively small and lightweight models. Some are even designed to be thrown by hand. The bulk of the fleet consists of the Granat 1, Granat 2, Eleron-3, Zala, Orlan-10, Takhion and Zastava models. All of them are small enough to “disappear” once they rise to an altitude of between 1.5 and 2 kilometers high.

On the other hand, Ukraine has demonstrated good use of its drones against Russian forces. In mid-March, the US announced the shipment of “longer-range” anti-aircraft weapons and 100 US drones.

In the case of drones, these are the Switchblades, manufactured by the American company AeroVironment, also known as “kamikaze drones” or “suicide missiles”, which thanks to their light size - similar to that of a baguette - have great precision and are more subtle than, for example, the Javelin anti-tank missiles, also supplied by United States forces.

There are two models of these “loitering ammunition”. The Switchblade 300 are the smallest. They measure about 30 centimeters, weigh almost 2.5 kilograms, and are thrown from a small tube resembling a mortar. With a precision attack with advanced ammunition, they have a range of 10 kilometers and a range of 15 minutes. Its cruising speed is 101 kilometers per hour, and the racing speed is 161 kilometers per hour. They operate at an altitude lower than 152 meters.

Its warhead, the size of a grenade, is effective against unarmored vehicles and groups of troops; it cannot penetrate the armor of tanks.

The other model is the Switchblade 600. Compared to the previous ones, they are larger and more effective against armored targets: they weigh about 22.5 kilograms and measure 1.3 meters. They feature precision attack with anti-armor warhead, which makes it useful against vehicles. They have an operating altitude of less than 200 meters, their range is 40 kilometers, and the flight range is 40 minutes. The cruising and running speeds are 113 and 185 kilometres per hour, respectively.

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