ORION (INOKHODETS)

The Orion (Inokhodets) is Russia's first operational medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) armed drone, roughly equivalent in class to the Chinese CH-4 but smaller than the MQ-9 Reaper. With 24 hours of endurance and four hardpoints carrying up to 200 kg of guided munitions, the Orion provides Russian forces with persistent ISR and precision strike capability. Combat-tested in Syria and deployed in Ukraine, the Orion has launched guided bombs and small precision missiles against both fixed positions and moving targets. While it lacks the payload capacity and sensor sophistication of Western counterparts, the Orion represents a critical step in closing Russia's recognized drone gap — a gap painfully exposed by Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and early stages of the Ukraine conflict.