Russian Force Practice Flying Forpost, Orlan-10 Drones In Tajikistan

The operational group of Russian Forces, stationed in Tajikistan, have practiced with the Russian homemade drones Forpost and Orlan-1o at night in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan.

The use of both the drones was conducted as part of joint military exercises carried out by Russia and Tajikistan, Russia’s Central Military District Command was quoted as saying by Sputnik International reported Today.

The exercises, held in the mountain range of Central Asia, aimed at searching for and blocking manoeuvring military groups in a hard-to-access area.

Forpost is an advanced piece of technology in the Russian arsenal, manufactured by Ural Works of Civil Aviation. Forpost was shot down on May 20th in Eastern Ukraine.

It is capable of operating at night and in the day. It is used to acquire a complete picture of the battlefield and relay real time information to artillery teams in order to correct their fire which devastates enemy positions. Although it doesn’t drop bombs, the impact of the surveillance is equally lethal.

Forpost can fly up to 6000m. It can be managed from a distance of more than 250 km and the endurance time is 18 hours, Sergiy Grynenko, deputy director of Ukrainian Institute of Scientific research, special techniques and forensic expertise said in a video interview of Bellingcat.

 It is 6 m length and 8.5 Wingspan. Speaking about latitude and endurance, the UAV belongs to group of tactical aircraft, Grynenko added.

The Orlan-10 is one of the unmanned aerial vehicles, which have been produced for the Russian government at the Special Technological Centre of Saint Petersburg. An Orlan-10 was reported by Ukrainian officials to have been shot down in Ukraine in 2014.

The Take-off weight of the Orlan- 10 is 15 kg and payload weight is 6 kg.  Further, it uses gasoline A-95 engine. Its airspeed is 90 to 150km per hour. The maximum flight duration is 16 hours. The operating temperature ranges near the ground from -30 degree to +40 degree Celsius.