The Belarusian aerospace industry is expanding its portfolio of strike-capable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a source from the Belarusian Academy of Sciences’ Research and Manufacturing Center of Multipurpose Unmanned Aerial Systems (NPT MBK) told Jane’s .
“Belarus has developed the Yastreb [Hawk] UAV with a maximum take-off weight [MTOW] of 700 kg,” the source said. “This is the heaviest drone developed by the country.”
The Yastreb adopts a twin-boom airframe that takes off and lands conventionally and can be supplied in three configurations – reconnaissance, combat, and target. It can carry a payload of up to 120 kg.
The air vehicle is powered by a Rotax-912S2/100 combustion engine, producing cruise and maximum speeds of 120 km/h and 220 km/h respectively. It has a stated endurance of six hours, although this can be extended to 10 hours with an external fuel tank.
Its gyro-stabilised sensor suite comprises a daylight camera, thermal imager, and laser rangefinder, although it can also carry up to three 25 kg loitering munitions on its hardpoints. These are equipped with a 10 kg high-explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) or high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead and feature an automatic guidance system.
NPT MBK claims that these munitions can engage targets out to a maximum distance of 50 km with a circular error probable (CEP) under 2 m.
Photo: Nikolai Novichkov
Source: Jane’s 360