YEKATERINBURG, May 22. /TASS/. Russia’s advanced Upyr (Vampire) FPV (first person view) drone was successfully employed in a battle under enemy jamming, wiping out Ukrainian army personnel in dugouts and sheltered positions, a spokesman for the drone’s manufacturer told TASS on Monday.

"The process of testing the drone in a real battle continues but it has already proven its worth, repeatedly managing to fulfil the objective of striking enemy fortifications and destroying its manpower under jamming conditions. Thanks to its specific design and fine-tuning, the Upyr has defied the Ukrainian army’s jamming efforts," the spokesman said, specifying that some other types of drones were even unable to take off under such conditions.

The Upyr drone was employed together with the shells assembled by the military in field conditions and consisting of an explosive and striking elements, which helps economize on serial-produced munitions, he stressed.

"The goals that we struck, namely, sheltered strongholds and dugouts in the front’s depth, are very complex and costly for artillery. However, one FPV drone steered by a skilled pilot is capable of inflicting heavy damage. This is what happened and in one instance our pilot managed to steer the drone exactly into the vent opening of a dugout," the spokesman said.

The funds for the production of the new batch of Upyr FPV drones continue coming in the form of donations from people all across Russia. The funds collected by now make it possible to assemble about 500 new drones, the spokesman said.

Upyr FPV drone

The Upyr FPV drone was engineered in the Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals and is designed to strike enemy targets in the front’s depth and wipe out armor at sheltered positions. The drone can carry grenades for RPG-7 grenade launchers, such as PG-7VL rockets, RKG-3M anti-tank hand grenades, and also high-explosive fragmentation shells made by the military directly on the battlefield.