Fighters of the Azov Regiment, part of Ukraine’s National Guard, downed a Russian-produced drone in the combat zone of Donbas, the Joint Operative Headquarters reported on March 1.
According to the military, the enemy’s aerial vehicle was spotted while it was on a reconnaissance flight over Ukrainian positions in the early morning.
“The guards let it pass the first line, and then opened barrage fire on the drone with small firearms,” the message reads.
“At 7.43 a.m. local time the vehicle was shot down from an altitude of 150 meters. The servicemen located it and handed it over to special task groups specialists…Now experts are studying the enemy drone and its data carrier.”
The military identified the downed vehicle as the Eleron-type drone, which is produced by ENICS joint stock company located in the city of Kazan, Russia. The company presents itself as a manufacturer of several types of unmanned aerial vehicles and other aerial equipment since 1988.
Going by information provided on its official website, ENICS is a contractor for the Russian Defense Ministry and Ministry of Industry and Trade, producing aerial vehicles for both military and civilian use.
It is a certified contractor for Russia’s state defense procurement, and apart from producing hardware, it also provides training for drone operators and technical maintenance of aerial vehicles.
Specifically, the drone destroyed by the Ukrainian troops on March 1 is probably an Eleron 3CV drone, also described and displayed on the ENICS website in detail.
According to the producers, this model is designed to conduct electro-optical aerial surveillance at any time of day. It is capable of detecting and identifying targets, precise positioning and mapping of targets via ground-based remote control, using Russia’s GLONASS or GLONASS/GPS navigation, and conducing photographic aerial surveillance.
A complete set consists of two T28 drones, a modular changeable payload including a 10.2-megapixel camera and various other optics, sensors and detectors, a ground control set, and a catapult launcher.
The drones weight 5.5 kilograms and are made in the form of a flying wing. They can achieve speeds of between 70 and 130 kilometers per hour at their maximum altitude of 5000 meters above sea level.
Their batteries allow up to 100 minutes of flying, so the producer recommends purchasing the complete set of two drones so that operators can launch and recharge the vehicles in rotation to be able to conduct continuous aerial surveillance without interruption.
