A Russian motorist near Ryazan (southeast of Moscow) recorded a video earlier this year of an unusually large, low-flying drone with a V-shaped tail and wings spanning a whopping 23 meters from tip to tip.
This was a rare sighting of a “heavy attack” drone that was developed by Russian drone-maker Kronshtadt prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s called the Sirius, named after the brightest start in the sky. Sirius was intended as a higher-performance, twin-engine successor to the single-engine the Orion UCAV, which saw combat use earlier during the invasion.
Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian uncrewed systems and AI at the Center for Naval Analyses and the CNAS think tank, wrote to Pop Mech:
“Sirius is a pre-war legacy system, along with Helios long-range ISR drone and other Kronstadt projects. This is supposed to be one of the flagship projects to propel Russia into the rank of drone superpowers on the air with the US, Israel and China. Sirius is supposed to be a significant upgrade of Orion in practically all capabilities.”
A mockup of Sirius was displayed at the 2019 MAKS airshow, while construction of a flying prototype began November of 2021. While originally planned to enter service in 2023, it instead made its first flight on February 27, according to a leaked Pentagon report.
Key changes include much greater range, and support for a satellite communications (SATCOM) antenna that will allow for remote control over huge distances.
It also can carry heavier, harder-hitting bombs and missiles ordinarily reserved for manned warplanes. That supposedly includes 1,100-pound class RBK-500U cluster bomblet dispensers and destructive ODAB-500PMV fuel air explosives. The drone also benefits from a ground-mapping Synthetic Aperture Radar that can help generate terrain maps, as well locate ground-vehicle and artillery targets.
Sirius will supposedly come in three variants—one for attack, one for reconnaissance only, and one for maritime patrol. The last submodel, operated by Russia’s navy, is intended to have payloads for anti-submarine ops, search-and-rescue, maritime reconnaissance, and signal-repeater duties.
Production will begin at a facility in Dubna (55 miles north of Moscow).
Sources: Popular Mechanics;