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The Forpost falls into the standard Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) category. Its form and function is largely similar to that as seen with the Searcher family line. A high-mounted monoplane wing arrangement is featured while an internal cargo bay holds mission support equipment. An optics fit is seen at the belly while a radar fit is identified along the dorsal spine of the aircraft. A 47 horsepower engine is seated at the rear of the fuselage in a "pusher" configuration, driving a three-bladed propeller. The Forpost retains the original's twin-boom, twin-tail-finned empennage and fixed, wheeled undercarriage.
The Forpost has seen combat action in the skies over Ukraine and, presumably, Syria where Russian interest and direct involvement continues to grow.
UAVs have proven themselves ideal over modern battlefields, particularly against less advanced foes. It is a booming industry and a hot commodity for any world-class military power and a plethora of manufacturers have popped up to sell their wares to whatever buyer is interested. Some are lightweight and hand-launched, others medium-class and catapult launched. Some have been designed as explosive, disposable suicide machines while, still others, are large, aircraft-like developments able to loiter over contested territory for hours on end.
Russia’s military-industrial sector already has at least one concrete proposal on the table. Unveiled at Moscow’s Interpolitex-2019 security exhibition, these drones—dubbed Flock-93—will carry an 5.5-pound explosive payload and operate in groups as large as one hundred units. It is unknown exactly how these drones, which are presumed to operate autonomously at a range of around 90-100 miles, will deliver their payload. Flock-93 is intended as a tactical weapon against vulnerable infrastructure and assets; it can also potentially saturate certain types of air defenses, particularly when used in conjunction with other weapons and aircraft.
In a January 2021 report, the Pentagon acknowledged Russian strides in offensive UAV technology: “Russia is making sUAS platforms an integral part of its future warfare capabilities by improving its reconnaissance-fires complex and fielding reconnaissance and attack UAS.”
The Forpost is a license-produced version of the prolific Israeli drone Searcher II, boasting a range of roughly 250 km. Russia has procured a homegrown derivative, Forpost-R, replete with Russian components such as the 83-horsepower APD-85 engine as well as enhanced reconnaissance features. More recently, it was reported that Forpost is being modified with yet-to-be-identified strike capabilities. The Orlan-10 is a Russian reconnaissance stealth drone first introduced in 2010, while the Eleron-3 is a short-range tactical drone that was the subject of a new $15.5 million procurement deal. Russia’s military employed drones to remarkable effect during its Syrian intervention—Forpost, in particular, distinguished itself as a consistent source of valuable military intelligence against anti-Assad regime militants. “In Syria, the Forpost proved itself in the best possible way. We are therefore making plans for using these systems for the next decade. Naturally, they will undergo modernization,” said former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov. Russian UAV’s flew roughly 16,000 sorties in Syria, totaling 96,000 hours of operation.
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