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Ukrainian Forces Down $300,000 Russian Merlin-VR Drone in Donetsk Region, Video

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Amira Barkhush
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Ukrainian Forces Down $300,000 Russian Merlin-VR Drone in Donetsk Region, Video
Screenshot. The 45th Artillery Brigade and the 63rd Brigade take down a Russian reconnaissance UAV, the “Merlin-VR”, in the Lyman direction, Donetsk region. (Source: the 63rd Brigade/Telegram)

The anti-aircraft gunners of the 45th Artillery Brigade, together with the 63rd Brigade, took down a Russian reconnaissance UAV, the “Merlin-VR”, in the Lyman direction, Donetsk region.

The 45th Brigade reached the goal first, but it was the 63rd Brigade’s drone that captured rare footage of the downing at an altitude of several kilometers.

“This wasn’t just any target—it was the most expensive Russian reconnaissance UAV, Merlin. Valued at over $300,000, it can stay in the air for 10 hours, covering 600 km! But this one didn’t make it far,” the 63rd Brigade wrote on their official Telegram channel.

The Merlin-VR is a Russian experimental drone designed for reconnaissance in both automatic and semi-automatic modes. It was developed by the Research Institute of Modern Telecommunications Technologies in Smolensk, and the first prototype was presented on September 28, 2021.

The developers claimed that the drone featured a hybrid engine, which would provide “low acoustic detectability.” However, according to Defense Express, when the drone was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in early June 2022, no hybrid technology was found in the drone. Instead, it was equipped with a standard engine, contradicting earlier claims about its capabilities.

On April 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced significant progress in the country’s drone production capabilities, citing the addition of over 20 new certified fiber-optic-controlled drone models since the beginning of the year.

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