HOSTOMEL, Ukraine — The state-owned aircraft company Antonov carried out the first test flight of its new strike drone on Nov. 8.
The 200-kilogram prototype vehicle, a component of the Ukrainian-made Horlytsya (Turtle-Dove) tactical unmanned aircraft system, has a 6.7-meter wingspan and can fly at speeds of 150-180 kilometers per hour at operating heights of 1,800-2,400 meters.
The drone can remain airborne for around seven hours, and has a range of up to 1,050 kilometers, the Antonov’s designers say.
The prototype successfully took off from Hostomel Airport in the north-west of Kyiv, and performed several simple maneuvers in the air.
The entire unmanned aircraft system will include four such drones, supported by a ground control station, as well as takeoff and landing facilities and capacities for ground transport and repair. According to Antonov, a team of 22 people is required to operate and maintain the four-drone system.
“Horlytsya is a unique aerial system for Ukraine,” Antonov’s press service said in a statement on Nov. 8. “In fact, this is the first Ukrainian platform featuring striking capacities. Today, similar vehicles are made in the United States, Israel, Italy, France, China, and Turkey.”
The drone can carry a weapons payload of up to 50 kilograms, such as two air-to-ground missiles.
As a surveillance unit, Horlytsya drones can scan terrain in both visible and infrared bands, day and night, and during poor weather. They automatically recognize, acquire and track hostile targets while transmitting their exact location to friendly command posts mode via a highly protected communications link.
The drone can provide very precise, real-time battlefield reconnaissance information for mechanized and armored brigades, artillery and missile divisions, or fighter aircraft, the designers say. They can also be used to relay communications between friendly units or to support commando teams on operations behind enemy lines.
More tests of the entire system are planned for spring, 2018, according to the director Antonov’s drone department, Mykola Vorobyov.
“However, our work is far from done,” Vorobyov told the Kyiv Post. “Many of the components, such as takeoff and landing facilities, are still yet to be designed. We will also have to purchase many of the system’s units abroad, as we can’t produce them in Ukraine.”
“It all depends on financing. If we get enough funding, we will be probably able to start mass production next year, and supply them to the armed forces a year after that.”
