The ENICS Eleron-3 (ЭНИКС Элерон-3 in Russian) is a reconnaissance

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

made by the Russian manufacturer

ENICS Enics is an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider that specializes in industrial electronics. Enics is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland and employs over 3,000 people in 8 manufacturing plants in Europe and Asia. Enics provides ...

History

The Russian word eleron (Элерон) means

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

. The Eleron-3 was originally aimed at the civilian sector, and can be used to survey things such as gas pipelines and power lines, or during search-and-rescue missions. In 2012, the

Russian armed forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

decided to procure the Eleron-3 along with the larger

Eleron-10 The ENICS Eleron-10 (ЭНИКС Элерон-10 in Russian) is a medium-range reconnaissance UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs ar ...

, the procured Eleron-3SW model was an improvement over the original one. Initial production capacities were low; in the 12 months between 2013 and 2014, ENICS could only produce 34 Eleron-3SW; however, production capacities were eventually increased.Nicole Bier, Patrick Madden
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Assessment: Russia
in: "Red Diamond" January/February 2018, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command The Russian armed forces have used the Eleron-3 in the Russian-Ukrainian War in

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

since 2014, and in military operations in the Syrian Civil War since 2015. In the early stages of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian reconnaissance drones like the Eleron-3 were rarely used; but that changed later on.Mark Episkopos
Drones Are Keeping Ukraine in the Fight With Russia
The National Interest, 6. April 2022 The Eleron-3 has been shot down during the invasion of Ukraine by electronic warfare devices such as the EDM4S.

Characteristics

The Eleron-3 has a conventional aircraft fuselage, delta wings, and a tailplane. The Eleron-3SW, on the other hand, has a blended wing body without a tailplane. It is launched using an aircraft catapult and lands using a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

.Huw Williams: "ENICS extends Eleron family",

Jane’s Intelligence Review ''Jane's Intelligence Review'' is a monthly journal on global security and stability issues published by Jane's Information Group. Its coverage includes international security issues, state stability, terrorism and insurgency, ongoing conflicts, o ...

, November 2013 An electric motor drives a pusher propeller at the back. The Eleron-3SW model has been significantly improved over the original; in addition to better flight performance, it offers reduced noise and improved climb performance, reduced dimensions when folded for transport and a longer maximum flight duration. The overall system consists of the drone, a modular payload (which can be a

radio relay Radio stations that cannot communicate directly due to distance, terrain or other difficulties sometimes use an intermediate radio relay station to relay the signals. A radio relay receives weak signals and retransmits them, often in a different di ...

radio jammer Radio jamming is the deliberate jamming, blocking or interference with wireless communications.https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-347A1.pdf Enforcement Advisory No. 2012-02 FCC Enforcement Advisory Cell Jammers, GPS Jammers, and Ot ...

), a ground radio station and a launcher. The ground radio station can control up to two drones simultaneously. The drone can be equipped with various

image intensifier An image intensifier or image intensifier tube is a vacuum tube device for increasing the intensity of available light in an optical system to allow use under low-light conditions, such as at night, to facilitate visual imaging of low-light proces ...

and thermal imaging cameras for

night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vi ...

capabilities. The operator can search for targets in real time, with the exact position of these targets being displayed on the operator console using GLONASS or

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

. The Eleron-3 offers three flight programs supported by GLONASS or GPS:ELERON–3
ENICSRussian MoD to receive Eleron-3 UAS
shephardmedia.com, 11. Mai 2018 * Autonomous: The coordinates of the flight route are stored before departure. During the flight, the drone maintains radio silence and flies the route independently. * Automatic: The coordinates of the flight route are stored before departure, but can be changed through the control panel during flight. * Semi-automatic: The operator specifies the flight direction and altitude during the flight.

Specifications

References

{{reflist Unmanned aerial vehicles of Russia