The nation of Belarus has jumped into the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fold with several relatively new offerings including its "Condor" and "Golden Eagle" lines. The latter was unveiled at MAKS 2015 and it was reported that the Belarus Ministry of Defense (MoD) was set to procure a collection of these tactically-minded drones for security purposes - mainly in the Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) role. Beyond its local interest, the UAV is also being looked at by 558 Aircraft Repair Plant (Unmanned Aviation Division), its manufacturer, for possible export. At least two Golden Eagle UAVs are already in service with the MoD with ten total systems (30 aircraft) on order.
Its basic design sees a tubular fuselage housing the engine, avionics and sensors fit with the nose being rounded off and tail section taper. A two-bladed propeller is seen at the rear. The wing mainplanes are shoulder-mounted and swept back with winglets fitted at their tips. The Golden Eagle is a catapult-launched UAV. The Condor holds an operational range out to 100 kilometers and sports a payload capacity of 120 kilograms. Its payload fit is variable and allows the customer to suit the mission need - be it training or active deployment over contested zones.
Belarus has other UAV products to its name - the "Grif-1", the INDELA-I.N. "Sky" and the "Berkut" to name a few.
Belarus
