New upgrade of Belarus Berkut-2 UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Belarus' JSC Agat - Control Systems has upgraded the Berkut-2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) adopted by Belarusian Armed Forces and the State Board Committee of the country, according to the press department of the State Military Industrial Committee (Goskomvoenprom) of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarus Berkut-2 UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Picture source Army Recognition)

"In March 2015, JSC Agat - Control Systems, the managing company of the Geoinformational Control Systems holding, has decided to upgrade the Berkut-2 tactical UAVs delivered to the troops, considering the experience of the vehicle's use," the press department of Goskomvoenprom said in a statement.

The modernization was aimed at the increase of the UAV's reliability and effectiveness. The structure of the vehicle's catapult launcher has been reinforced, while the servos of the Berkut-2 have been replaced by magnets. The software of the unmanned aerial system's (UAS's) ground control station has also been improved. "The developer provides technical support of the software in real-time mode," the press department added. Foreign-originated automatic control system and components of payloads have been replaced by Belarusian-made analogues.

The crews of the Berkut-2 UAS have been retrained, Goskomvoenprom emphasized.

According to the official catalogue of JSC Agat - Control Systems, the export-oriented Berkut-2E (E stands for Export-oriented, Eksportny) UAS comprises two UAVs, various payloads (a camera, a thermal imager, and a TV camera), a ground control station, a transceiver, a catapult launcher, and two containers. The Berkut-2E UAV has a flight range of 35 km, a service ceiling of 3,000 m, a cruise speed of 80-100 km/h, an endurance of up to 120 minutes, a weight of up to 10 kg, and a service life of no less than five years. The system's crew totals two.