Belarus to Buy Chinese FPV-Drones at Inflated Price

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus has plans to purchase FPV-drones for its army. By the end of this year, Belarusians want to buy Chimera CX10 10-inch drones from iFlight Chinese company in the amount of only 16 units. They are likely to be used to train operators of FPV-drones of Belarusian army.

Belarusian Hajun OSINT project emphasizes two facts. The first is the cost of the drone. Thus, it is planned to spend about 460 thousand Belarusian rubles or approximately 140.5 thousand dollars for 16 drones. This means that one UAV costs about $8,800.

At the same time, the price of the Chimera CX10 drone on the iFlight website is $329.99. Even if it includes all the possible equipment, the amount is still eight times lower than the price tag from the Defense Ministry of Belarus – $1,222. According to Belarusian Hajun, this can be explained either by the purchase of additional components or by corruption.

The second fact is that the company prohibits to use its drones for “any military purposes.” But the Defense Ministry of Belarus can easily ignore this rule by purchasing drones through intermediaries. This may also explain why the price of drones has risen so much compared to the manufacturer’s price.

Speaking about the technical characteristics of this drone, we can highlight the following: its weight is 810 grams without battery; payload is 1.5-2.5 kg; maximum speed is 140 km/h, maximum altitude is 6000 m; maximum hover time is about 40 minutes with a battery without additional load.

Belarusian Hajun reminds that this year the Defense Ministry of Belarus is going to purchase or has already purchased 13 russian Supercam S350 drones, its own Berkut-3 drones (up to 10 units), as well as 9 Chinese Autel drones of various types.

Photo: Chimera CX10 FPV-drone

Source: Defense Express

 

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