Moscow. November 25. INTERFAX-AVN - Rosoboronexport is conducting 10 contract negotiations on the delivery of the Orion-E reconnaissance and strike drone abroad, the head of the company Alexander Mikheev said.
"In 2021, the Orion-E reconnaissance and strike aircraft was brought to the foreign market and now we are conducting more than 10 contract negotiations on it," Mikheev said, quoted by the press service.
According to him, more than 50 Orlan-10E reconnaissance drones have already been delivered to foreign customers this year.
Rosoboronexport notes a serious increase in the interest of foreign partners in Russian-made unmanned aerial vehicles. (...) We are preparing to launch new models in the near future, including kamikaze drones and heavy attack vehicles," Mikheev said on the eve of the EDEX-2021 defense exhibition in Cairo (Egypt), which will be held from November 29 to December 2.
In July, the head of Rosoboronexport reported that Russia had received about 15 applications for the supply of Orion drones abroad. According to the Kronstadt company, negotiations on Orion export deliveries with delegations from 13 countries took place at MAKS-2021.
Orion's export deliveries may begin in 2022, the CEO of Kronstadt, Sergey Bogatikov, said in August.
"We are already purchasing components for the assembly of complexes for start-up buyers. We will be able to start deliveries abroad from 2022 - after the launch of a new serial plant in Dubna, but the first priority for us is to meet the needs of our army," Bogatikov said in an interview with Interfax.
The Orion UAV, developed by Kronstadt as part of the Pacer program, is the first MALE class drone (Medium Altitude Long Endurance - a class of medium-altitude drones 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.
During the modernization, Orion was able not only to conduct reconnaissance, but also to perform strike missions. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, this drone in the strike version was tested in Syria in 2019.
The Orion is equipped with three aircraft armament suspension points - two under the wing consoles and one under the fuselage. The maximum mass of the combat load is 200 kg. The drone 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.
Medium-range drones "Orlan-10" weighing 14 kg are capable of carrying 5 kg of payload, they are used by the military to conduct aerial reconnaissance and monitoring the situation from the air, targeting strike means, blocking cellular communications and distortion of the GPS navigation field.
