Ukrainian military shot down the Russian equivalent of the Searcher II drone for $7,500,000

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 01.07.2022, 12:34

Anti-aircraft missile forces of the South Air Command reported the destruction of a Russian Forpost reconnaissance drone.

What we know

The drone can stay in the air for almost 18 hours. The flight range is 250 km. "Forpost" is used for aerial reconnaissance and can illuminate targets for high-precision munitions with a laser.

"Forpost" is not a Russian development. The drone is a copy of the Israeli drone Searcher II, created by Israel Aerospace Industries. In 2010, Russia acquired a license to produce its own UAV, which will be called "Forpost.

How much the Russian drone costs is unknown. The price of Searcher II is $7 500 000. But it is known that Russia signed a $300,000,000 UAV development contract in 2010. In 2017, the Russian army had 30 Forpost complexes in service, each with three drones.

Source: Air Command South

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