Illustrative image.
On August 11 afternoon, al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) announced that it had shot down a Russian drone over the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib in a blatant violation of the March 5 ceasefire agreement of 2020.
The drone, identified as an Orlan-10, crashed in the vicinity of the town of al-Ruwaihah. HTS’ Amjad news network shared photos of the drone’s wreckage.
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Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
This was the second Russian drone to be lost in Syria on August 11. In the morning, a drone of the same type crashed near the town of al-Matmurah in the northern al-Hasakah countryside in the country’s northeastern region.
The Orlan-10 has a flight duration of 16 hours and a range of 140 km. The drone can be equipped with several types of sensors to carry out different missions including reconnaissance, 3D-mapping, electronic warfare and communication relay.
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Last February, Russia lost two Orlan-10 drones in northeastern Syria and Greater Idlib. In April, another drone of the same type was lost in Greater Idlib.
The Russian military group in Syria has been using drones, mainly Orlan-10s, to monitor de-escalation zones in the war-torn country for several years now.
Service ceiling 5000 kilometres? Wow, I didn’t know drones could achieve orbit.
Let’s get a grip on these downed drones news. The fact is that drones are cheap operational tools and have a very low ceiling in most cases and even slower air speed, making them vulnerable to ground fire, AAA and even small arms, so some will fall, even malfunction. Drones are considered the condoms of the skies.
Orlan-10 is a mass produced drone so a few losses doesn’t matter. There are over 1000 Orlan drones produced, it’s a cheap drone.