Ukrainian Interceptor Drone Scores Possible First-Ever Kill Against Russian Orion Strike UAV Carrying Bombs

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has released video footage showing a Ukrainian anti-aircraft first-person-view (FPV) drone shooting down a rare Russian reconnaissance and strike drone of the Orion type – a high-value unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) known for carrying a range of aerial bombs.

The video shared on Telegram includes details of how the SBU’s Special Operations Center “A” destroyed various Russian military targets over two weeks. Among them: tanks, artillery, air defense systems, electronic warfare, and radio-electronic reconnaissance systems – and notably, multiple UAVs.

Defense Express outlet highlighted that the footage shows at least two instances where Ukrainian forces used anti-aircraft FPV drones to engage the Forpost-R UAV, a Russian-Israeli design rarely seen on the battlefield.

“This is not the first time an anti-aircraft FPV has managed to hit such a target,” Defense Express wrote.

“Previously, the 414th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Systems – also known as ‘Birds of the Madyar’ – took down a Forpost-R. That engagement was likely the first successful use of an anti-aircraft FPV drone against that UAV.”

The footage also captures the moment a Ukrainian drone successfully downed an Orion UAV.

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Russian FPV Drones and Artillery Kill Two, Wound Four Civilians Across Ukraine

Russian FPV drone strikes and artillery bombardments killed two civilians and wounded four others across the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson regions on Saturday, June 6. In the Kharkiv region’s Derhachi community, an FPV drone targeted and killed a 51-year-old man riding a scooter to buy groceries. Another morning FPV strike in Kramatorsk detonated near a residential home, killing a 50-year-old resident.

“This is at least the first time this UAV has been caught on video being brought down by an anti-aircraft drone,” Defense Express added. “It may also be the first time such a truly ‘fat’ target has ever been hunted down this way.”

The Orion drone is a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV developed by Russia’s Kronstadt company using Israeli technology. It carries guided aerial bombs including the KAB-20, KAB-50, UPAB-50, and FAB-50.

According to aviation commentator and deputy director of a Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) company, Anatoly Khrapchinsky, the Orion’s components are largely foreign.

“There is very little Russian tech there,” he said in a late 2024 interview with Ukrainian Radio. “Even the engine is Austrian. It’s heavy, expensive, and during the full-scale invasion, seven have been destroyed so far.”

Khrapchinsky added that Russia continues to acquire such components via third-party countries like Kazakhstan.

The Orion is capable of flying for up to 24 hours at altitudes of 25,000 feet (7.5 kilometers), with a payload of 200 kilograms (440 pounds). It serves in both surveillance and combat roles, providing real-time battlefield intelligence.

Notably, on June 25, a Ukrainian drone strike hit the Atlant-Aero plant in Taganrog – a key facility in Russia’s military-industrial complex that produces components for the Orion drone.