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Russia's defense industry

Russia increases output of Orlan drones several times

Orlan flies for a long time and fulfils more missions than an electric drone

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The Special Technological Center (STTs) increased the production of Orlan-10 and Orlan-30 multirole drones several times against 2021, Chief Designer Roman Ivanov told TASS.

"There was a task to increase the output several times. The output of Orlan-10 grew 3-4 times and of Orlan-30 25 times against 2021. It is a high result," he said.

Russia annually produces over a thousand Orlan-10 drones, he added.

In Ukraine, Russia uses less than a thousand Orlan drones, which are outnumbered by FPV drones. However, Orlan flies for a long time and fulfils more missions than an electric drone. "Our craft is therefore praised from the engagement point of view," Ivanov said.

The drone has been considerably upgraded since batch production began in 2012. "In the past 10-12 years our craft has been considerably modified. Modern Orlan differs from what it was in 2012. Many functionalities were added and the equipment was developed. It is actually a basic platform," he said.

The center will keep upgrading the drone. "The Defense Ministry has a vision of which hardware it needs. We are implementing customer requirements. The work will continue for years," Ivanov said.

Exports of Orlan drones will increase after the military operation in Ukraine is over. "The demand is growing. We hope when the active phase of the operation is over and the supply exceeds the demand, we shall deliver the drones to other countries," he said adding at present the Defense Ministry is using all Orlan drones itself.

Orlan-10 is designed for optical-electronic reconnaissance, jamming of GSM communications and distorting GPS navigation field. It carries replaceable modules with heat imagers, color video camera on a gyrostabilized rotating platform, a photo camera and transmitting equipment. It has a takeoff weight of 14 kg and a payload of 5 kg. It is equipped with a photo camera, gyro-stabilized TV camera and infrared image generator. The cruising speed is 90-150 km/h, the practical ceiling is 5000 meters, flight duration is 16 hours, the range is 120 km from the ground control (600 km in autonomous regime). The drone has an internal combustion engine. It is launched by a catapult and lands on a parachute.

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Russian defense industry

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