As it can be assumed, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or began to start such models more often due to the shortage of praised "Orlan-10", which are considered the most massive Russian drones, or the Ukrainian military learned to knock them through air defense or small arms. The developer "Merlin-BP" was the Research Institute of Modern Telecommunication Technologies, located in Smolensk.
The creators claim that their experimental UAVs received a very quiet hybrid engine, which makes it less noticeable while driving. Merlin's flight duration is about 10 hours, the maximum height is 5 km, the payload is 6. 5 kg. It is intelligated from air in automatic and semi-automatic modes by means of "optical-location stations" operating in visible and infrared ranges. "Merlin-BR" is a fairly new model, because it is first represented in Russia in the fall of 2021.
Since then, little has been reported, so it is unknown whether the Research Institute was able to finalize their brainchild and start its mass production. However, in June 2022, the Armed Forces managed to knock down such an apparatus in the territory of Ukraine. Before falling, the drone managed to release the parachute, so he landed quite gently and the experts were able to study how he was arranged.
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