Russia tests Orion UCAV in air-to-air Combat Role
Source: James News
Russia has tested an Orion unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) in an air-to-air engagement against a rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during tests in Crimea, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported on 19 December.
The Orion was shown taking off with a missile tube under each wing and tracking the rotary wing target before engaging it with a missile that appears to be a variant of the 9M113 Kornet anti-tank guided missile family. The engagement reportedly took place at a range of 4 km.
The UCAV also conducted air-to-ground engagements using the missile, the MoD said.
The missile used may be a development of the Kornet-D that was referred to as X-BPLA by an industry source cited in an 18 December Sputnik article. It was designed for use on the Ka-52 attack helicopter as well as the Forpost and Orion UAVs, the source said.
