Russia to deploy Orlan-10 UAV in Arctic region

Russian MOD photo Russia will deploy its new Orlan-10 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to monitor Russian territories in the Arctic from...

Russian MOD photo

Russia will deploy its new Orlan-10 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to monitor Russian territories in the Arctic from May 1.

The UAV units will be used to monitor the ecology and ice in the short-range sea area and at a part of the Northern Sea Route, a Russian Defense Ministry press release says.

The UAV complexes can be delivered by Mi-26 helicopters to any region for monitoring situation for the needs of civil navigation as well as for search and rescue operations.

The photo (above) of the catapult-launched Orlan-10 UAV, shows a improved variant with winglets,  resembling the US made Insitu ScanEagle UAV. The type was reported to be shotdown over Ukraine during the recent crisis.

 It was developed by the Saint Petersburg-based Special Technology Center (STC). The gasoline powered piston engine UAV has an reported endurance of up to 15 hours and and weighs 15 kg with a 6 kg payload.