On October 25, Armenian air defense units shot down an Azerbaijani loitering munition over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian Unified Infocenter shared photos of the munition, which was identified as an advanced version of the Israeli-made SkyStriker.
Another downed #Azerbaijan|i UAV
Сбит ещё один вражеский беспилотник#NKpeace pic.twitter.com/wmQdaL7BK1— Armenian Unified Infocenter (@ArmenianUnified) October 25, 2020
According to the manufacturer, Elbit Systems, website, SkyStriker is a fully autonomous loitering munitions that can locate, acquire and strike operator-designated targets with a 5 or 10 Kg warhead.
The munition, which is propelled by an electric engine, can stay in the air for 1 hour with a 5 kg warhead and 2 hours with a 10 kg warhead. Detection and target accusation is done through a gambled CCD-IR seeker.
Azerbaijani forces have been using Israeli-made loitering munitions like SkyStriker and IAI Harpo to strike high-value Armenian military equipment, such as air-defense systems, since the outbreak of the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27.
Armenian air defense forces are finally adopting to the threat posed by Azerbaijan’s loitering munitions and combat drones. An Azerbaijani Aerostar tactical drone and three Bayraktar TB2 combat drones were reportedly shot down in the last few days.
