Russia Deploys Chinese-Made Drone to Hunt and Overload Ukrainian Air Defenses – Intel

The Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) has published the technical specifications and components of a new Russian drone that is currently actively used by the Russian army.

According to intelligence officials, this UAV performs reconnaissance tasks and is used as a decoy to detect and overload the Ukrainian air defense system. In addition, according to some reports, the drone is capable of carrying a warhead weighing up to 15 kg (33 lbs).

The aircraft has a delta-wing fuselage similar to the Shahed-136 but is significantly smaller. All components and modules on the UAV are of Chinese origin.

“Almost half of them, the flight controller with autopilot, navigation modules and antennas, airspeed sensor, and Pitot tube, come from a single Chinese company, CUAV Technology,” the HUR press service reported.

In October 2022, the company announced restrictions on the supply of its products to Ukraine and Russia in order to prevent their use for military purposes. However, in 2023, a vertical take-off drone was presented in Russia as a domestic development, which, according to Ukrainian intelligence, turned out to be a product of CUAV Technology.

In addition to CUAV products, such drones use a DLE-brand engine and electronic ignition module, KST servos, a Razer FPV camera manufactured by Foxeer Technology, a Mayatech RFD900X data transmission module, a ReadyToSky video transmitter, a Hobbywing Technology power regulator, and an HRB Power battery.

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This system enables the establishment of a data transmission channel from the drone to its ground station or from UAV to UAV, thereby expanding its reconnaissance capabilities.

Russia has previously used individual components from this new drone in other models. In particular, DLE engines were installed on the Gerbera and Parodya drones, while KST servos were used in the Shahed-136, V2U, as well as in universal glide and correction modules and aerial bombs.

In addition, the drone is equipped with a Chinese copy of the Australian RFD900x data transmission module from RFDesign. Like the original, this system is designed for long-range data transfer – up to 40 km in direct line of sight, depending on the antenna type.