A Russian medium-range reconnaissance drone was recently spotted on the battlefield with first-person-view quadcopters mounted under its wings, making the system a flying carrier.
Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a drone advisor to the Ukrainian defense ministry, posted two images of the fixed-wing system — from the Orlan drone family — in a Telegram post on Wednesday evening.
“This time Orlan got on camera. He has already dropped one FPV,” Beskrestnov wrote.
Beskrestnov said that Russia was spotted before using loitering munitions, such as the delta-wing Shahed exploding drone and Gerbera decoy drone, to carry FPV drones.
Unlike those drones, however, the Orlan is a reusable platform. The Orlan-10, a commonly used version of the recon drone, has an operational range of about 74 miles, though it can be preprogrammed to fly up to 370 miles.
Using a fixed-wing drone as both a carrier and signal relay could allow the pilot to significantly extend the reach of tactical quadcopters, which have been recorded hitting targets at a maximum distance of about 40 miles.
It’s yet another battlefield innovation that continues to see troops push and merge simpler technologies for better effect. Ukraine, meanwhile, has also experimented with relay drones — essentially quadcopters or fixed-wing drones that extend another drone’s signal range — for deep FPV strikes.
Ukrainian soldiers told Business Insider last November that Russia was using Molniyas, fixed-wing loitering munitions, as carriers for FPV drones.
The overall tactic, however, is still emerging. Beskrestnov said Russia still hasn’t been deploying FPV drones consistently from its Shaheds and Gerberas, which it produces thousands for attacks on Ukraine.
“According to my observations, this technique has not been widely used by the enemy for a number of reasons,” Beskrestnov wrote.