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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“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.