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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Vyriy Industries is preparing to scale up a new reconnaissance system called SLAVIC, which is already being used by some units of the Defense Forces. The company has not yet publicly shown the drone itself, but plans to present it soon.
Vyriy Industries CEO Oleksii Babenko spoke about combat trials of the new system in an interview with "Military". According to him, SLAVIC was created as a next-generation reconnaissance copter that operators familiar with DJI Mavic should be able to master quickly without lengthy retraining.
SLAVIC is already operating in combat conditions
The first systems were handed over to units of the Defense Forces for testing directly at the front.
One of the main requirements for SLAVIC was the ease of transition from the civilian quadcopters already familiar to the military. According to Babenko, during one rotation a new crew had not worked with SLAVIC at all beforehand, but was able to switch to the new system quickly.
"My task was that a Mavic operator, without training, could take this drone, take all the equipment, connect it and start working," Babenko explained.
In fact Vyriy is trying to keep the operators' familiar workflow logic while significantly increasing the platform's capabilities.
Up to two hours in the air
The current version of SLAVIC can stay airborne for approximately 1,5 hours. After switching to new batteries, the company expects to bring this indicator up to two hours.
For a reconnaissance copter, this means a much longer time on station and the ability to keep the crew further from the danger zone.
According to Babenko, flight duration is one of the main differences between SLAVIC and the familiar Mavic.
The drone remains unpublished for now
Although SLAVIC is already undergoing combat testing, Vyriy Industries has not yet publicly shown its appearance.
The company also has not disclosed the full list of characteristics, the composition of the system, or the specifics of its sensors.
A presentation is expected soon. After that Vyriy promises to describe the capabilities of the new platform in more detail.
The new drone is being prepared for scaling up
Alongside combat trials, the company is already preparing SLAVIC production for increased volumes.
This means that the current stage of development is essentially a check before wider supply to the troops. Feedback from the first crews should help make changes before mass production.
For Vyriy this continues the shift from individual FPV platforms to a broader ecosystem of unmanned systems. Earlier, Military 24 reported on the interceptor drone ZIRKA, created by NOCTIS with support from Vyriy Industries.
Later the developers also demonstrated automated interception of the high-speed aerial target ZIRKA, where some of the search and tracking work is already taken over by onboard automation.
SLAVIC develops a different direction—tactical aerial reconnaissance. And although the aircraft itself remains behind the scenes for now, it is already being tested where it was created to operate—in real combat conditions.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Заміна Mavic для фронту: що відомо про секретний дрон SLAVIC". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
