Molniya
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of Molniya
From the Russian word Mólniya literally, lightning
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One of the key elements has been the Molniya, or Lightning, drone, a cheap, fixed-wing unmanned flying vehicle with a range of more than 30 miles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
As well as fiber-optic drones, Russian units are using Lancet fixed-wing drones with a range of up to 25 miles, and growing numbers of the cheaper Molniya models.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
The Soviets also showed a model of their advanced Molniya communications satellite, which in synchronous orbit over Siberia can relay color TV between Moscow and Vladivostok.
From Time Magazine Archive
And Molniya satellites have relayed long-distance phone calls and taken weather pictures of the earth's cloud cover.
From Time Magazine Archive
Molniya was cluttered with so many unlabeled antennas and sensor systems that scientists figured that the satellite was also capable of serving a "spy in the sky" function over the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
