The Signum unmanned systems battalion, part of the 59th Separate Assault Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk, has issued a warning to fellow soldiers: according to their observations, the Russian reconnaissance UAV “Knyaz Vishchy Oleg” (KVO) has begun firing at personnel protection assets during air raid alerts.
The information was published by military electronic warfare and intelligence expert Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov. It is known that the KVO’s behavior has changed in recent times: whereas the aircraft was previously used exclusively for reconnaissance, fire adjustment, and damage assessment, the drone has now begun attacking defensive structures and soldiers’ shelters.
“Knyaz Vishchy Oleg” (KVO) is a Russian tactical reconnaissance fixed-wing UAV (glider) developed by the scientific and production center “Ushkuynik” — the same one that produces fiber-optic FPV drones “Knyaz Vandal Novgorodsky” and interceptor drones “Osoyod.”
Declared technical specifications:
- wingspan — 2.8 m, maximum takeoff weight — 11 kg;
- operating range — up to 45 km, flight endurance — up to 3.5 hours;
- speed — up to 130 km/h;
- airframe made of wood, composites, and foam;
- can operate without satellite navigation, has a secure communications channel;
- equipped with a forward-facing camera and a gyro-stabilized optical system with 10x optical zoom.
The drone’s purpose is deep aerial reconnaissance, artillery fire adjustment, communications relay, and battle damage assessment of other drones’ strikes.
