Profile
- Type
- Medium-altitude long-endurance reconnaissance-strike UAV
- Conflict side
- Russia
- Origin
- Russia
- Service note
- 2010s-present
Aircraft & UAVs
Orion
Orion, also known as Inokhodets, is a Russian medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft developed by Kronstadt for persistent reconnaissance and precision strike missions. In the Russia-Ukraine War it has appeared in limited Russian service, with documented strikes, combat losses, and Ukrainian intelligence reporting on its production chain and foreign components.
- Conflict side
- Russia
- Built by
- Kronstadt Group
- Built in
- Russia
Service History
- In service
- Russian service by the early 2020s
- Used by
- Russian Armed Forces
- Wars
- Russia-Ukraine War
Production History
- Designer
- Kronstadt Group
- Designed
- 2010s
- Built by
- Kronstadt Group
- Built in
- Russia
- Variants
- Orion, Orion-E export reconnaissance-strike system
Specifications
- Crew
- Uncrewed aircraft with ground control station
- Maximum takeoff weight
- 1,150 kg for Orion-E
- Payload
- 250 kg maximum payload; 200 kg maximum combat payload for Orion-E
- Endurance
- Up to 30 hours for Orion-E
- Speed
- 200 km/h cruise speed for Orion-E
- Ceiling
- 7,500 m maximum flight altitude for Orion-E
- Mission equipment
- Optical-electronic, infrared, radio, and radar reconnaissance payload options with air-to-ground weapons capability
Conflict Usage
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Side: Russia
Operated by Russian forces as a reconnaissance-strike UAV during the full-scale invasion; open-source reporting documented Orion strikes on Ukrainian vehicles and visually confirmed combat losses.
Orion Images
Related Weapon Systems
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Orion-EPublisher: Rosoboronexport | Note: Official export product page for Orion-E role, payload, endurance, speed, altitude, and operating radius figures. | Accessed: 2026-06-20DIU expands datasets on Iranian "shahed-107", russian "orion" and "phoenix" UAVsPublisher: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine | Note: Supports direct Russia-Ukraine War conflict use by identifying Orion/Inokhodets as a Russian strike and reconnaissance drone examined in Ukrainian wartime intelligence reporting; also supports manufacturer background. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Nascent Capabilities: Russian Armed Drones Over UkrainePublisher: Oryx | Note: Supports direct Russia-Ukraine War conflict use by documenting Russian Orion armed UAV activity over Ukraine, including strike examples and visually confirmed losses. | Accessed: 2026-06-20File:Orion-E.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Primary image provenance; Commons file page lists the Orion-E photo as own work released under CC0 1.0. | Accessed: 2026-06-20File:Kronstadt Orion front right ARMY-2022.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Gallery image provenance; Commons file page identifies a Kronstadt Orion at ARMY-2022 and lists CC BY-SA 3.0 licensing. | Accessed: 2026-06-20