Moscow. July 28. INTERFAX-The CIS countries, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa have expressed a desire to purchase Russian Orion reconnaissance and strike drones during MAKS-2021, the press service of the Kronstadt developer company reported.
"During the exhibition, we held negotiations with a record number of foreign representatives, among whom there were both traditional customers and completely new ones who expressed interest in supplying the complexes in the very near future, "said Sergey Bogatikov, CEO of Kronstadt, whose words were quoted in the press service.
According to the company, negotiations on Orion export supplies were held at MAKS-2021 with delegations from 13 countries, including the CIS countries, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.
"Foreign countries have shown great interest in the new technical capabilities of the Orion-E drone and have expressed their intention to start cooperation also on the larger complexes of Kronstadt JSC-the Helios-RLD and Grom unmanned vehicles," the press service said.
They noted that at the static exhibition of the MAKS-2021 air show, held in Zhukovsky near Moscow on July 20-25, the Kronstadt company presented the Orion-E in a new modification-with a satellite data transmission channel, as well as the Helios-RLD radar patrol drone.
Russia has received about 15 applications for the supply of Orion attack drones abroad, the head of Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, said on July 21.
The Orion UAV is the first UAV of the MALE class (Medium Altitude Long Endurance-a class of medium-altitude UAVs with a long flight duration), fully developed in Russia and built from domestic components. The maximum take - off weight of the device is 1,150 kg. "Orion" can stay in the air for up to 24 hours, its cruising speed is 200 km/h, the maximum flight altitude is 7,500 meters.
According to the materials of the developer company, the maximum mass of the Orion combat load is 200 kg. It is capable of using adjustable aerial bombs (KAB) with a caliber of 20 and 50 kg, aerial bombs with a caliber of up to 100 kg and guided missiles with a caliber of up to 50 kg. Accordingly, at the same time it can carry up to 4 guided missiles or up to 5 KAB.
As Interfax reported, large-scale models of the Thunder and Helios-RLD drones were first presented at last year's Army forum.
Helios-RLD will be able to create a continuous radar field to warn of an air attack or an invasion of territorial waters, Kronstadt reported at the time.
