Russia Significantly Increases Use of Knyaz Veshchy Oleg UAVs: Ranks Second After ZALA

Russia has significantly increased the production and use of the Knyaz Veshchy Oleg reconnaissance drones. As of March, this UAV has become the second most widespread reconnaissance drone, after the ZALA.

General Cherry shared this information, based on interception data, with Militarnyi.

According to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, over the past month, the number of these drones being destroyed has risen sharply – by four times.

The developer and manufacturer of the drone is the Russian company Ushkuynyk, which is also known for creating FPV drones with fiber-optic control, such as the Knyaz Vandal Novgorodsky, and interceptors like the Osoed.

The UAV has a wingspan of 2.8 meters and a maximum takeoff weight of 11 kg. The stated technical specifications by the adversary are: range – up to 45 km, flight duration – up to 3.5 hours, speed – up to 130 km/h, and altitude – up to 3,000 meters.

The drone is equipped with two cameras: a course IP camera manufactured in China by Shenzhen Zhongxi Security, and a gyrostabilized optical system, D-80AI (China), which includes a three-axis gimbal, a Full HD wide-angle camera, and a 10x optical zoom camera.

The system also features night vision, target detection, and real-time tracking using artificial intelligence. The flight controller is built on microcontrollers from the Swiss company STMicroelectronics, manufactured in China and Taiwan, and components from CUAV Technology (China).

A four-channel CRP antenna is used for navigation in electronic warfare (EW) conditions. The UAV’s movement is powered by two SunnySky electric motors, manufactured in China, mounted on the wing consoles.

The drone contains numerous components from Switzerland, the USA, the Netherlands, and other countries. Specifically, it includes 33 components from the USA and 5 from Switzerland.