An interesting reconnaissance drone was captured, almost intact, by the pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine.
Along with the Su-25, Su-27 and Mil Mi-24, the Ukrainian Air Force is operating its fleet of recently restored Soviet-era reconnaissance drones.
Among them, at least until Aug. 1, even one Tu-143 Reys, a type of drone developed from Tu-141, that pro-Russia separatists found almost intact in a field.
The Tu-143 is quite similar to the Tu-141, even though substantially smaller. It has an operative range of about 60 – 70 kilometers and a low-level flight capability.
David Cenciotti is a freelance journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written four books.
Schiebel Camcopter used by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine made its first flight. On Oct. 23, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) successfully completed the first flight of the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 […]
Scale Model Flight Test Prototypes Sunk in Lake May Provide Clues to Mystery. The Canadian-built CF-105 Avro Arrow is many things in aviation history, but more than anything else, it is an enigma. Aviation historians […]
Incredibly, the camera survived the crash. The video in this post was allegedly filmed on Aug. 20, 2014, somewhere near Lugansk where a Ukrainian Mi-24 Hind gunship helicopter was hit and shot down by an […]
