And pretty common state for the Orlan, a few captured earlier in the war weren't in much better shape. Seems to be SOP in the Russian military to treat your equipment like shit.

[–] MxM111@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Is it plane? Yes. Does it controlled remotely? Yes. So it is remotely controlled plane, or RC plane for shot.

[+] BombOmOm@lemmy.world -6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Last I heard, Russia pays about $60k for each one of these. I have no clue how they manage to be so expensive.

[–] DreamerOfImprobableDreams@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Simple. The defense minister tells the president they’re buying a new $60k drone, then he calls up one of his generals, orders him to but a new drone, and he had $40k to do it. The general calls his colonel and tells him he had $30k to buy a drone. The colonel calls a captian and tells him he has $20k to buy a new drone…

By the time the procurement officer actually buys the damn thing, he has a budget of $100. So, of course, he buys the finest drone on the market $50 can buy.

[–] Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz -2 points 1 year ago

At the rate they're running out of stock, I presume the original order was for 1000 of these, and the procurement officer sent a receipt for the purchase and a photo of himself with a sample and 999 empty boxes with photoshopped labels taped on in the warehouse.