The Belarusian aerospace industry is expanding its portfolio of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) with the Yastreb, an industrial source told TASS. The Yastreb unmanned aerial system (UAS) can be supplied in three configurations, namely, reconnaissance, combat, and target.
Belarus-made Yastreb Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at Army-2018 International Military Technical Forum, near Moscow, Russia. August 2018 (Picture source Army Recognition)
"Belarus has developed the Yastreb heavy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a payload capacity of 700 kg. This is the heaviest drone developed by the country," the source said.
The Yastreb UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) integrates a twin-boom unmanned aerial vehicle that takes off and land like a fixed-wing aircraft.It is powered by a Rotax-912S2/100 combustion engine, producing a speed of 120-220 km/h and an endurance of 6 hours or 10 hours without/with an external fuel tank. The vehicle carries 120 kg of useful payload.
The Yastreb`s sensor suite incorporates a daylight camera, thermal imager, and laser rangefinder and is mounted on a gyrostabilized platform.
The Yastreb is armed with two or three small kamikaze drone with a weight of 25 kg each, which are attached to the vehicle’s external hardpoints. The kamikaze drones feature a 10 kg high-explosive fragmentation or high-explosive anti-tank warhead and an automated guidance system. They have a range of up to 50 km, being able to hit a target with a circular error probable of no more than 1-2 m, the manufacturer claims.
