CAPTURED RUSSIAN UAV IN THE STUDIO! Secrets and internals of the ZALA Z-20. Teardown of the enemy drone
The Zala Z-20 is a Russian fixed-wing reconnaissance drone used for high-altitude surveillance. Ukrainian forces use interceptors to shoot down these aircraft, which feature foreign components.
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Come on, I've started it!
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The launch with the help of a cataphont and a hall rushes into the sky.
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Zala Z-20. A Russian reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle of the fixed-wing type, manufactured by the Zala "Aero" company. Now, one of such downed drones lies on the table, and most likely the hit was to the left wing. This is a serious, although propaganda-overrated, enemy tool that the Russians are trying to integrate into their unified strike system along with Lancets. If we set aside the promotional pathos about "no analogs," before us is a large glider with a wingspan of about 4 meters, a takeoff weight of up to 17 kilograms, and an electric motor with a flight duration of over 6 hours. The enemy uses UAVs for prolonged reconnaissance at high altitude, attempting to detect our rear.
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They
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They are purposefully trying to drive these drones to extreme altitudes of over 8,000 meters, calculating that our MANPADS or quadcopters will not reach them. However, thanks to interceptors, Ukrainian security forces are, so to speak, competing for kills. The record shoot-down of a Zala was at an altitude of 8,060 meters. Can you imagine? Well, for comparison, the height of Everest is 8,848 meters. In August, a crew from the Klyvr unit of the NGU brigade eliminated a Zala 20 at an altitude of 7,427 meters. And as for other spectacular shoot-downs, see more in the highlight reel. Believe me, there are many of them. Understanding that Ukrainian operators are used to attacking scouts from above in the optics' blind spot, the Russians have started mounting additional overhead cameras. The goal, of course, is clear: to spot our interceptor and attempt to evade it. But, judging by the number of downed aircraft, this does not always help. The aircraft launches from a pneumatic launcher and lands via a parachute with an air cushion. And on downed specimens, traces of the parachute system's activation or characteristic wing damage from a hard landing or crash are often clearly visible. The Russians boast of high-resolution cameras and are indeed trying to equip these UAVs with machine vision elements, for example, for target tracking. However, the reality is much simpler. These systems depend on onboard microelectronics, and foreign-made components are usually found in downed samples, which the Russians try to disguise as their own developments.
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In May 2025, Kremlin propagandists pompously paraded the AZ-20 on the parade across Red Square, boasting about this technological marvel to their viewers. And by 2026, there was no equipment at the parade. If you remember, Moscow was then gripped by fear of Ukrainian deep strikes, so this pride of the army was hidden far away to avoid trouble. A wonderful irony emerges: while at parades in the RF equipment is now shown only in pictures, on Ukrainian fields, "there is no analogue" to this; our fighters successfully bring them down with the forces of the Armed Forces. Of course, in their reports they will not write about how many of these wonder-complexes are shot down by Ukrainian air defense. The Zala Z-20 is a scarce and expensive machine for the enemy, costing approximately 200 thousand dollars. And the loss of each aircraft for
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them
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is painful. Honestly, it was like honey to my soul, thanking every pilot in the Armed Forces.
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Thank you.
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