On Sunday, April 5, Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle, which was identified as the Russian Zastava aircraft Bird Eye 400, near Svetlodarsk, in the area of Operation United Forces.
This was reported by the press center of OOS.
“Thanks to the skillful actions of one of the units that holds the defense in the Svetlodar direction, the Zastava Bird Eye 400 unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down. This UAV has been produced in the Russian Federation since 2012. Its cost is about two million dollars ,” the statement said.
The drone was passed to experts from specialized detachments to check the data storage device.
“This fact once again proves the direct participation of the Russian armed forces in the war in eastern Ukraine,” it said.
The BirdEye 400 is a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle designed and manufactured by the Malat Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The UAV performs intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. Flying at an altitude of 1,000ft, the BirdEye 400 can provide its operators with real-time intelligence data on enemy combatants.
The Airforce-technology.com reported that Israel signed two contracts worth $53m with Russia in April 2009 for delivering 12 BirdEye 400 UAVs.
The first contract included two Bird Eye 400 systems (worth $4m), eight I View MK150 tactical UAVs ($37m). They were delivered to Russia in September 2010. Russia acquired 36 additional UAVs worth $100m by the end of 2010 under the second contract.
Sources: Apostrophe; Defence Blog