On Friday, August 22, the Ukrainian charity fund Come Back Alive published a photo taken by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft FPV drone. It appears to show a standard russian Orlan-30 reconnaissance drone.
However, a closer look under the wing reveals two suspended FPV drones. Apparently, the Orlan-30 acts as a mothership, transporting FPV drones to the Ukrainian rear, and probably as a repeater.
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First and foremost, this allows them to extend their range without adding weight to the already heavy batteries. This method allows the FPV drone to begin near its target with a full battery, extending its flight time and payload capacity.
Judging by the available footage, no explosive payload was spotted. It is usually mounted under the drone and occupies significant space, so it should be visible from this angle. However, since such drones would be pointless without an explosive payload, it is likely that the payload is simply smaller and mounted closer to the front.
A burnt area is visible on the left wing of the Orlan-30. This may be the result of a previous unsuccessful attempt to intercept it with an anti-aircraft FPV drone. In general, the use of various reconnaissance drones as mothership is nothing new.
Such motherships could previously be seen on both the Ukrainian and russian sides. However, it appears to be the first recorded use of the Orlan-30 UAV in this way.
It is difficult to accurately determine the type of suspended drone from the available footage, but it is quite similar to russian Skvorets FPV drone. Moreover, it has already been launched from a mothership.
It is also worth recalling that russians attached an FPV drone to their Molniya-2 strike UAV, which at the time raised some questions.
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