On 13 October, the crew of the Ukrainian Mi-24 attack helicopter shot down the Russian-made Orlan-10 UAV over along the Lysychansk-Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) press center has reported.

According to JFO’s statement, the Russian drone maneuvered, performing a reconnaissance flight along the Lysychansk-Severodonetsk route.

“The JFO commander Lieutenant-General Serhiy Nayev made a decision to destroy the target by attracting a Mi-24 helicopter of fire support operations,”  said in JFO.

The drone was shot down at 09:58 near the settlement of Borovske (Luhansk region). Subunits of the ground forces of the JFO found its fragments and identified them.

The downed drone was identified as the Orlan-10  unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Russian industry, which is on service with the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

The Orlan-10 is a medium-range, multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Russian firm Special Technology Center LLC in St Petersburg. The UAV is in service with the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

It is intended for a variety of missions including aerial reconnaissance, observation, monitoring, search and rescue, combat training, jamming, detection of radio signals, and target tracking.

The Orlan-10 system comprises two to four UAVs and a catapult launcher. Each vehicle has a maximum take-off weight of 18 kg, a wingspan of 3.1 m, and carries a 3 kg payload. Powered by a piston engine, the Orlan-10 has an endurance of up to 10 hours, a maximum flight range of 300 km, and flies 70-150 km/h at an altitude of up to 5,000 m. The vehicle is launched against a 15 m/s wind.

According to the airforce-technology.com, production on the UAV was commenced in 2010. The unmanned aviation unit of Russian military base located in Armenia received Orlan-10 aerial systems in October 2015, to perform aerial reconnaissance in high-mountain areas.

Russia’s military held drills with Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles: