Aviation / Aerospace

Sukhoi Zond (Series)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) [ 2015 ]

The Sukhoi Zond series of UAVs will cover a spectrum of useful communications relay and environmental monitoring roles for Russia.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/09/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

The Zond family of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is being developed by Russian mainstay Sukhoi OKB. The family consists of the Zond-1, Zond-2 and Zond-3 - each charged with varying non-military roles. The Zond-1 will primarily be used in communications relay and transmission of television signals at low-to-medium altitudes (up to 18,000 meters) through a radar and Phased Array Antenna (PAA) and TV link relay suite. The Zond-2 will undertake environmental monitoring tasks related to the earth's surface and upper atmosphere utilizing a sideways-looking synthetic aperture radar system, infrared and television monitoring at medium-to-higher altitudes (up to 24,000 meters). The Zond-3M is scheduled as something of a combination of both preceding Zond vehicles - monitoring environmental and atmospheric events and changes as well as communications relay. The Zond-3 will be dimensionally smaller when compared to the full-sized Zond-1 and Zond-2 series vehicles and be designed for operations at altitudes below 12,000 meters

Design of all three air vehicles will be largely the same save for a few notable physical differences. All versions will sport a Global Hawk-type nose profile with low-mounted straight-set wings with clipped tips. The Zond-1 and Zond-2 will sport a maximum take-off weight of 12,000kg compared to the Zond-3's 2,000kg MTOW. The Zond-1 and Zond-2 will also share the same empennage assembly, featuring a pair of outward-canted vertical tail fins in a Vee arrangement. The Zond-3 will be given a similar assembly though of an inverted Vee design. The Zond-1 will sport a triangular radar assembly on a strengthened support along its fuselage spine. The Zond-2 will be characterized by its fuselage underside assembly which will promote a deeper profile appearance. Unlike the Zond-1 and Zond-2 models, the Zond-3 will be powered by a lighter propeller-based powerplant set in the pusher configuration. The Zond-1 and Zond-2, comparatively, will feature a (presumed) turboshaft engine within the fuselage and side-mounted air intakes. It is assumed that all three designs will make use of a retractable undercarriage.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

2015

Origin

Russia

Crew

0
UNMANNED

Production

0
UNITS

Sukhoi - Russia

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Russia

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Special Forces
Serving Special Forces / Special Operations elements and missions.

✓ Unmanned Capability
Aircraft inherently designed (or later developed) with an unmanned capability to cover a variety of over-battlefield roles.

Length

42.7 ft
(13.00 m)

Width/Span

114.8 ft
(35.00 m)

Height

18.0 ft
(5.50 m)

MTOW

26,455 lb
(12,000 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Sukhoi Zond-1 production variant)

Installed: 1 x turbofan engine (Zond-1; Zond-2) OR 1 x propeller engine in pusher configuration (Zond-3).

Max Speed

155 mph
(250 kph | 135 kts)

Ceiling

49,213 ft
(15,000 m | 9 mi)

Range

7,456 mi
(12,000 km | 22,224 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Sukhoi Zond-1 production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None. Fitted with a payload of antenna, communications equipment, relay systems, electro-optical systems, infrared, synthetic aperture radar and similar.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft anti-radar/anti-radiation missile

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Zond-1 - Communications relay/TV transmissions; triangular radome on fuselage spine; Vee-style tail assembly.

Zond-2 - Radar-equipped; IR/TV systems; atmospheric surveillance; Vee-style tail assembly.

Zond-3 - - Radar-equipped; IR/TV systems; atmospheric surveillance; communications relay systems; inverted Vee-style tail assembly.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1