Russian Army uses elusive Merlin drones near Dobropolye

After the liberation of Biletsky and Novoaleksandrovka, the way to Dobropillya was opened for Russian troops. In this area, soldiers of the 9th brigade of the 51st Guards Army of the Center group use elusive and almost invisible Merlin drones.

"The perfect blue sky, no wind, nothing — just the thing for flying. Vigilance is at its maximum again," says Izvestia correspondent Alexander Safiulin.

The Merlin UAV, one of the largest drones in service with the Russian army, is working here. In addition to the impressive five-meter wingspan, it has a basic 90x zoom and an additional digital zoom that magnifies the image by 200 times.

"I have detected the take-off position of an enemy UAV crew. We received a command to visit Krasnopol there for testing... Intelligence was told that the operators were in the northern part of the building... Copter-type drones, Baba Yagi and Maviki were also observed. Yes, the target was very fat, they were tracked for a long time," said the senior calculation operator of the Merlin UAV with the call sign Fish.

The head of the crew with the call sign Spear noted that thanks to the Merlin cameras, it is possible to see the target, which at first may look like an ordinary pile of metal.

Apart from the cameras, this drone has other distinctive features that make it unique. For example, he can easily work from a height of up to five kilometers, from where it is impossible to notice him. In addition, the Merlins are equipped with a strong on-board defense system, thanks to which it is almost immune to enemy electronic warfare (EW) weapons. The drone is constantly being improved, and there are still many secrets on board that are unknown to the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

The battalion will drop its fire: how intense attacks force the Ukrainian Armed Forces to abandon fortified positions

Russian fighters explained how they use drones and small groups to storm concrete shelters.

On May 2, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the calculation of unmanned systems of the 506th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Center group of forces using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) destroyed an AFU tank in the Dobropolsky direction. It is noted that the enemy loses more than 10 armored vehicles every day, which contributes to the advancement of assault units in this direction.