MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. Kronshtadt Group will help investigate the crash of the unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Orion near a residential area in Russia’s Ryazan Region, the company, which has developed and produced the drone, told TASS on Saturday.

"An inquiry into the accident in the Ryazan Region has been set up. Kronshtadt Group will assist in the investigation," a spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Sergei Bubenev, a major case detective of the Russian Investigative Committee’s Moscow transport investigative department, told TASS that the Orion drone had crashed near a residential area of the town of Listvyanka in the Ryazan Region.

Orion attack drone

The Orion is a medium altitude, long endurance drone with a maximum takeoff weight of 1 tonne and a maximum payload of 200 kg. The drone has a service ceiling of 7.5 km and its maximum flight duration with the standard payload is 24 hours. The drone can develop a speed of up 200 km/h. The drone is being developed by Kronshtadt Group.

At the Army-2018 international arms show, Kronshtadt Group demonstrated a drone armament control system and a munition prototype of its own development with a weight of up to 50 kg that can be outfitted with various warheads.

Another TASS source in the defense industry said in February 2019 that back in 2018 the Orion drone had been tested for employing air bombs but did not specify the munition types. According to the source, the drone was used in Syria but without employing its armament.

At the MAKS-2019 air show, Kronshtadt Group Chief Designer Dolzhenkov told TASS that the Orion drone was at the final stage of its trials and that the Defense Ministry of Russia would get one such unmanned aerial vehicle before the end of the year. In early November, a source told TASS that the Orion drone had entered trial service with the Russian Aerospace Force.