Ukraine destroyed fourth Russian Orion drone. Why these military UAVs are not hit more often?

The Ukrainian Army claimed it has destroyed the fourth Russian Orion drone that performed surveillance operations in its territory on February 9. It is certainly a good outcome, but why these UAVs are not being hit more often?

Orion unmanned aerial vehicle. Image credit: Nickel nitride via Wikimedia, CC0 Public Domain

There is no precise information on how many Orions the Russian military has built until now. Different sources provide varied estimates, ranging from 30 to more than 50 units. This may be the reason why they do not fly often over Ukraine – this resource is too scarce for the Russian army.

This model is capable of performing armed strikes with Vikhr-1V laser-guided antitank missiles. Naturally, such a machine is expensive to build, which is why their number is low compared to cheaper drones. For example, the Russian Federation has built more than 1,500 Orlan-10 drones which are smaller and less expensive.

The fourth destroyed Orion may indicate that the Russian Army managed to increase the number of these drones in its possession. The first unit was destroyed in April 2022, the second in September, and the third was taken down in last December.

Orion drones are relatively large, measuring 8 meters (26 ft 3 in) in length and 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height, with a wingspan of 16 m (52 ft 6 in). A target this large can be quite easily detected by radars, even when it is able to achieve the maximum flight altitude of 7,500 meters (24,600 ft). Hitting it also should not pose any significant challenge for modern air defense systems currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“With the help of installed optic sights, the ‘Orion’ UAV can watch over the area and search for a target. It can launch strikes on ground targets with guided rockets and air bombs,” commented the Ukrainian Air Force Command.

According to Defense Express, Russia planned to produce 21 new Orion drones by the end of 2023. If these plans are fulfilled at least partially, we may see the numbers of destroyed Orion units increase, too.