Ukrainian Military Analyze Russian Drone Equipped with MV Tech

The commander of the Birds of Magyar Battalion made a detailed analysis of the captured Russian FPV drone with a pre-set autonomous guidance system. The video of the analysis was published on the unit's YouTube channel. The invaders, the Russian unit Doomsday, lost their FPV drone in the Kherson region as a result of Ukrainian electronic warfare system activity.

Two factors made it possible to get a drone equipped with a final stage targeting system: the drone has not yet managed to reach and lock on its target, and its operator forgot to erect a fuse of the initiation board, which would have to blow up the device when falling. Structurally, the drone is built on the basic spare parts of the Chinese company Foxeer and a 7-inch frame made of carbon fiber.

"Magyar" noted a system of detonation, which is branched from the initiation board along the body of the device, which, in case of a fall, zaps and blows up the charge. Another mode of its operation is remote detonation at the command of the "machine vision" system.

FPV drone design: 1) initiation board fuse button; 2) initiation board; 3) computer; 4) camera; 5) on-board computer module

The drone significantly differs from the other by its module of the onboard computer, Orange Pi 5. The second difference is a customized antenna with a non-standard frequency for receiving and transmitting data, which allows it to avoid the influence of the "trench"-style EW systems that are common on the front lines.

Orange Pi 5 is a miniature single-board computer based on an 8-core 64-bit Rockchip RK3588 processor with 4 GB of RAM. The computer can run Android 12 or Linux operating systems. Its cost ranges from £120 to £150, which is 1/3 of the cost of a conventional FPV drone.

Orange Pi 5 mini computer

For proper operation, the analog video signal from the camera is transformed into a digital one for processing by an onboard computer.

"Magyar" added that with a relatively small increase in price, a drone equipped with such a module and the necessary software solves the main cause of failure: loss of control due to a lack of communication associated with the effect of radio horizon and EW systems on enemy equipment. In addition, the use of artificial intelligence elements in drones allows for significantly reduced requirements in training for pilots, equating beginners with experienced operators. They will only need to bring the device to the target and capture it in sight, and then it will do everything itself.

Recall that in March 2024, Militarnyi demonstrated the use by the Ukrainian defenders of their own drones with a "machine vision" technology.