By Manuel Ribeiro & euronews
Russia's state news agency reports that Russian forces have shot down a 'rare' Portuguese-made drone operated by the Ukrainian army. The Tekever AR3 was brought down by a Russian anti-drone battalion in the border region of Bryansk, the unit's commander told TASS.
"An enemy reconnaissance drone entered our sector. We were surprised because we had never seen anything like it. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had a different structure at the tail and on the wings. When we reached the crash site, we found it was a Portuguese reconnaissance drone. It is important to shoot down reconnaissance UAVs because, first, they map out routes for enemy drones to fly, and second, they look for our positions so that we can be attacked," the commander said.
The commander of the Russian battalion, which operates the interceptor drone 'Lis' (Fox in Portuguese), explained to TASS that after they had shot down the Tekever AR3 it came down in one piece, although "the engine was damaged" while "the fuselage and most of the airframe remained intact". For that reason, and once they realised it was a 'rare' model, the UAV was transferred to a research institute. According to TASS, Russian specialists will study its design and its technical and engineering specifications.
