Russian Forpost Drone Shot Down in Ukraine

Bellingcat ^ | June 13, 2015 | Christian Borys

[Ivan Mazepa]

Shortly after Ukrainian troops captured two Russian Spetsnaz soldiers, a Ukrainian special forces unit of the Dnipro-1 Battalion shot down a $6 million Russian Forpost drone near Avdeevka in Eastern Ukraine. The Russian government was quick to distance itself from the soldiers, and even went so far as to parade their families in front of the media to deny their active status. However, the drone that was shot down that day is not something the Russian government can deny owning and operating... (includes a video)

[GeronL]

Let me guess, only Russia uses that drone type

[Ken522]

During the interview the Ukranians said the drone was launched from a “front line” Russian post inside Ukraine - the drone’s range wasn’t sufficient to launch it from Russian territory. They said the Russians had 12 of these drones and now they only have 11 - manufactured by Civilian Aviation in the Urals ... these Ukranians are not to be messed with ...

[UncleHambone]

per the article: Most importantly, there is no other country in the world that flies the Forpost Drone but Russia. Some countries fly the Israeli Searcher drone, which the Forpost is a licensed copy of, but no other country outside the Russian Federation flies the Forpost, which was shot down on May 20th in Eastern Ukraine. This particular drone contained clearly marked ‘Forpost’ metallic plates with serial numbers inside it’s body.

[tlozo]

“Aided by Israel, Russia is building a $9 billion drone air force. Or rather, Russia was building a $9 billion air force. Thanks to President Putin’s Ukrainian adventure, plans to modernize Russia’s air force with a 21st Century drone fleet have run into some turbulence. Specifically, Russia seems to have lost access to cutting-edge drone technology from Israel.”
“Israel confirmed that, in order to avoid upsetting Russia, it’s canceling a drone sale to Ukraine, as well, which had been in the works.”

Russia’s Ukrainian Adventure May Have Crippled Its Drone Program
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/09/21/russias-ukrainian-adventure-may-have-crippled-it-2.aspx

[katana]

Maybe this type. The letters on the fuselage do say "forpost" in Cyrillic.

[GeronL]

Russia must be squirming now

[2CAVTrooper]

Kinda looks like the drones they used to use with the old Iowa class battleships for OTH spotting.

[Ivan Mazepa]

Gotta know the Russian mind - obviously, Ukrainians travelled to Russia, broke into a military air base and stole the parts.

[GeronL]

haha

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ivan Mazepa.

[ZOOKER]

The Russian government was quick to distance itself from the soldiers... However, the drone that was shot down that day is not something the Russian government can deny owning and operating.

So was it a lie that drones were supposed to save lives by keeping valuable soldiers away from harm? Now it turns out the soldiers are more deniable and cheaply replaceable ... it's that $6 million machine that's giving them fits...

[Ivan Mazepa]

I’m trying to recall an example where American soldiers were abandoned by their government, like the two Russian soldiers that were captured in Ukraine this past month. There are plenty of Jason Bourne type movies where a spy sent into hostile territory is warned that if he was to get captured, the government would deny its involvement. Would greatly appreciate if someone could give a name or link to such a case.