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SCENE
Orion
Revealed
T
his year’s MAKS air
show at Zhukovsky was
notable for new manned
aircraft types but also
some unmanned types.
Kronshtadt Technologies
showed its long-awaited
Orion, produced for
the Russian Ministry
of Defence under a
research and development programme
dubbed Inokhodets, or Ambler. Two Orion
air vehicles were at Zhukovsky. A military
version loaded with a full mission system
and weapon payload was on display in
a pavilion not accessible to the public
and visited on the first day of the showby Russian President Vladimir Putin. A
composite fuselage, half a wing and half
of the empennage of the Orion E export
version without any payloads were on
public display.
A tender covering research and
development of an air vehicle was
issued on October 14, 2011 to meet the
requirements of a programme dubbed
BAK SD (Bespilotnyi Aviatsionnyi
Kompleks Sredniei Dalnosti or Medium
Range Unmanned Aviation Project).
Transas, later re-organised into Kronshtadt
Technologies, of St Petersburg won the
competition with its Orion or izdeliye 90
(product 90); rival designs were provided
by Tupolev and Vega.Configuration, sensors
and weaponsOrion is a similar design to the American
MQ-1 Predator produced by General
Atomics. The Russian air vehicle features
a V-tail and is powered by a single 86kW
(115hp) PD-115T engine with a two-blade,
1.9m (6ft 3in) diameter, AV-115 push propeller
manufactured by Aerosila; a supercharged
version of the Rotax 914 modified with a
turbocharger by Rybinsk Luch to increase the
flight altitude. Series production air vehicles
will be powered by a new Russia-made
APD-110 engine under development by
Agat in cooperation with the TsIAM scientific
engine institute. The Orion has retractable
undercarriage comprising a nose wheel and
landing gear.
Two bays, housed in the lower fuselage,
carry mission equipment. A small forward
bay can house a typical payload like a MOES
electro-optical sensor manufactured by
Moscow-based NPK SPP with use of an
Argos platform supplied by South African
Airbus DS Optronics. The 410mm (16-inch)
diameter MOES turret houses a thermal
imaging camera with a zoom lens, two
electro-optical cameras (wide-angle and
zoom), a laser rangefinder and a laser target
designator, and weighs 56kg (123lb). The
sensor suite can detect, automatically track
and designate targets for guided weapons.
A large central bay can house a suite
of digital cameras or a surveillance radar
with an external radar-transparent radome.
Orion’s radar system is made by Moscow-
based Phazotron-NIIR. An alternate mission
system payload includes radio and signal
intelligence systems carried in both bays and
used for detecting and locating enemy air
defence systems.
Kronshtadt representatives refused to
answer any questions about the armed
version of the Orion, but did acknowledge
that such a version may be developed.
Other sources shed light on the military
version; Tactical Missile Corporation (KTRV)
is currently developing weapons for newPiotr Butowski provides details of a series of new Russian
unmanned air vehicles unveiled at MAKS 2017
Computer-generated images of the Orion E export version, configured with a suite of cameras
(top) or a surveillance radar with an external radar-transparent radome. Kronshtadt TechnologiesMoscow-based NPK SPP produces electro-
optical sensors including the MOES which is
one of a range of intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance payloads available for
the Orion UAV. Piotr Butowski