Drones are also made in Russia. But what can they do? Rating of the deadliest drones Unmanned vehicles in Europe
State tests of a new Russian heavy attack drone could begin as early as next year. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Defense Yuri Borisov during a visit to the Kazan Design Bureau named after Simonov. Apparently, we are talking about the first Russian heavy attack drone “Zenitsa”.
This drone was developed in Kazan and made its first flight back in 2014. Out now prototype, which takes into account all the experimental data obtained during preliminary tests. It is he, as Borisov expects, who will enter state testing next year. The Deputy Minister is confident that the tests will take place in a short time and will fully confirm that the designers have fulfilled the technical specifications. That is, purchases by the Zenitsa army are expected already in 2018. It is assumed that at first the serial production of the drone can reach 250 units.
We have been talking about attack drones for a long time. Without them in service, we spent a long time and energetically “exposing” the American Predator. It is supposedly an extremely indiscriminate weapon, firing missiles at both foot and horsemen, personnel and military equipment enemy and civilians.
However, already at that time, energetic work was underway in our own state design bureaus and private firms to create the first Russian analogues"Predator". From time to time, reports appeared that some developer was already two steps away from transferring unmanned manpower fighters and armored vehicles for state testing.
Most of all, they talked about Dozor-600, created by the Kronstadt company since the middle of the last decade. The prototype made its first flight in 2009. Since then, information has periodically appeared that a little more and... In 2013 Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu demanded to speed up the progress of work. But at the moment this makes little sense. Because Dozor-600 is yesterday’s unmanned aircraft. Its payload is only 120 kg. The American veteran Predator, which has been in operation since the last century, has a weight of 204 kg. And the modern Reaper has 1700 kg. True, the developers insist that Dozor-600 is not only an attack drone, but also a reconnaissance drone. However, our army already has quite enough unmanned reconnaissance aircraft for every taste.
Kronstadt has another development. And it was carried out jointly with the aforementioned Kazan Design Bureau named after. Simonova. This is the "Pacer", which is both more impressive than the "Dozor-600" and has a higher readiness. A year ago, information appeared that tests of the “Pacer” had begun at the Gromov Flight Research Institute. Nothing is known about the prospects for its adoption. And this is not surprising, since he was also very late in his birth. This is perfectly illustrated by a comparison of the main performance characteristics of the “Pacer” and the American “Predator”, which was put into service in 1995.
Flight characteristics of the Predator and Pacer UAVs
Maximum take-off weight, kg: 1020 - 1200
Payload weight, kg: 204 - 300
Engine type: piston - piston
Maximum flight altitude, m: 7900 – 8000
Maximum speed, km/h: 215 - presumably 210
Cruising speed, km/h: 130 — presumably 120−150
Flight duration, hours: 40 – 24
Although, of course, light attack drones, to which “Pacer” belongs, have their own niche in the army. They do an excellent job of solving anti-terrorist tasks of eliminating “particularly outstanding” militants. It is this path that Israel is following, creating compact drones armed with one or two short-range missiles with precise targeting.
OKB im. Simonova attacks the problem of creating a domestic strike drone on a broad front, not limiting herself to the development of two topics. In this case, all developments are brought to the stage of at least the production of prototypes. Simonov's team pinned great hopes on the middle-class Altair drone, weighing up to 5 tons.
Altair made its first flight at the end of last year. However, it turned out that the creation of a fully functional sample is still far away. The OKB is constantly and quite radically refining its brainchild. So, instead of the stated 5 tons, the drone began to weigh 7 tons. And according to the technical specifications, it was assumed that it would have a payload mass of about two tons, and a ceiling of 12 km. The maximum flight time is 48 hours. In this case, the drone must have a stable connection with the control complex at a distance of up to 450 km without the use of satellite channels.
Other characteristics are classified. But from what is known, it can be assumed that Altair should be at least no worse than the American Reper. Its ceiling is slightly lower, but the flight duration is significantly longer - 48 hours versus 28 hours.
When the development amount exceeded 2 billion rubles, the Ministry of Defense decided to reduce funding. At the same time, Altair was given a chance - by proposing to create a civilian modification for monitoring Arctic regions, so that civilian structures would co-finance the project.
If they receive additional sources of funding, Kazan intends to complete the development of Altair in 2019 and introduce the drone into mass production in 2020. The decision to cut funding was made two weeks ago.
Upon careful study of the question of how many heavy attack drones the OKB im. Simonov, there is a suspicion (based on facts) that they are trying to present us with one product under the guise of another.
Firstly, Yuri Borisov, while in Kazan, said that the Simonov Design Bureau won a competition for the development of a heavy drone several years ago in a difficult competition. However, we know for certain that in the tender the Simonov team won the right to create the Altair, and not the Zenitsa. The cost of the tender is also known - 1.6 billion rubles.
Secondly, Zenitsa is not a heavy drone; its take-off weight is 1080 kg. And, therefore, the payload cannot in any way exceed a quarter of a ton. It is known that it was developed on the basis of the Soviet Tu-143 “Flight” drone, which was put into service back in 1982. The characteristics, of course, have been significantly improved today. For example, the ceiling increased from 1000 m to 9000 m, and the flight range - from 180 km to 750 km. But, of course, this became possible due to a significant increase in fuel mass, which did not benefit the payload. So the 250 kg we estimate may turn out to be too much for Zenitsa.
Flight characteristics of the UAV "Zenitsa"
Length - 7.5 m.
Wingspan - 2 m.
Height - 1.4 m.
Maximum take-off weight - 1080 kg.
Cruising flight speed - 650 km/h
Maximum flight speed - 820 km/h
Maximum range flight - 750 km
Maximum flight altitude - 9100 m
Aircraft engine type - jet
So we can assume that under the guise of “Zenitsa” they are offering us “Altair”, the attitude towards which at the Ministry of Defense, due to unknown reasons, has changed dramatically.
If we talk about a truly heavy attack drone, which our aviation industry may soon produce, then this is the 20-ton Okhotnik UAV. Although he should have already been born under the name “Scat”. The fact is that from the beginning of the 2000s, Skat was developed by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau. In 2007, a full-size model was presented at the MAKS-2007 salon. However, soon funding for the project ceased due to the policy of the then Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov on the purchase of high-tech weapons for the army abroad.
After the change of minister, the project was unfrozen, but transferred to the Sukhoi Design Bureau. RSK MiG was involved in the project as a co-executor.
The terms of reference for the “Hunter” were approved by the Ministry of Defense in 2012. Its details have not been disclosed. The drone will be built on a modular basis, which will allow it to be used to solve a wide range of tasks. The developers were determined to begin testing the prototype in 2016 and transfer it to the army in 2020. However, as usual, the deadlines have slipped. The year before last, the first flight of the prototype was postponed to 2018.
Because oh Flight characteristics of the "Hunter" nothing is known, we present the characteristics of the Skat UAV. Logically, the Hunter’s performance should be at least as good.
Length - 10.25 m
Wingspan - 11.5 m
Height - 2.7 m
Maximum take-off weight - 20000 kg
TRD engine thrust - 5040 kgf
Maximum speed - 850 km/h
Flight range - 4000 km
Practical ceiling - 15000 m
Probing the future of air combat: Rafale fighter accompanies attack drone Neuron, designed to penetrate heavily defended airspace. Due to the superior combat effectiveness of the new generation of surface-to-air missiles, only such stealth attack UAVs (with a low effective dispersion area) will be able to close with and destroy a ground target with a high probability of destruction and return home to prepare for the next battle
Similar to giant stingrays, remote-controlled combat drones are considered among the strangest flying systems invented by man. They represent the next evolutionary step in the art of war, as they will definitely soon become the vanguard of any modern air force, since they have a lot of undeniable advantages in frontal combat, especially when dealing with a strong symmetrical opponent.
Lessons that hardly anyone learns
Essentially seen as a means of getting crews out of danger in areas with dense air defenses where the chances of survival are not that great, attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are essentially the brainchild of countries with strong defense industry and substantial annual budgets and often high moral standards regarding the cost of the lives of its soldiers. Over the past few years, the United States, Europe and Russia have been actively developing subsonic stealth UAVs, followed on their heels by China, always ready to copy and adapt everything that is invented in the world. These new weapons systems are very different from the MALE (medium altitude, long endurance) drones that everyone sees on their TV screens 24/7 and that are being built by well-known Israeli and American companies such as IAI and General Atomics, which are today excellent experts in the field. the well-studied company Ryan Aero with its BQM-34 Firebee remotely controlled jet aircraft... 60 years ago.
UAVs are not simply “armed” drones, as it may seem, even if today it is common to classify UAVs like the armed MQ-1 Predator or MQ-9 Reaper, for example, as strike systems. This is a completely misused term. Indeed, apart from participating in offensive operations in airspace that is safe or controlled by allied forces, UAVs are completely unable to pass through battle formations properly manned enemy systems. A visit to the Aerospace Museum in Belgrade acts as a real revelation in this area. In 1999, during NATO operations in Yugoslavia, at least 17 American RQ-1 Predators drones were shot down by either MiG fighters or Strela MANPADS missiles. Even with their caution, once detected, MALE drones are doomed and will not survive even an hour. It is worth recalling that in the same campaign, the Yugoslav army destroyed the American F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft. For the first time in combat aviation, an aircraft undetectable by radar and considered invulnerable was shot down. For the only time in its entire combat service, the F-117 was discovered and shot down, and on a moonless night (there were only three such nights in the five-week war) by a missile from an antique Soviet-made S-125 air defense system. But the Yugoslavs were not a rabble of outcasts with primitive ideas about the art of war like the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) or the Taliban, they were well-trained and cunning professional soldiers, capable of adapting to new threats. And they proved it.
The experimental Northrop Grumman X-47B UAV took another historic step on May 17, 2013, making several landings with immediate takeoff after touching down on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George W. Bush off the coast of Virginia.
In April 2015, the X-47B demonstrated not only a convincing ability to operate from an aircraft carrier, but it also proved its ability to refuel in midair. The second participant in this event over the Chesapeake Bay was a Boeing KC-707 tanker. This is a real premiere for UBLA, since this test marked the first refueling of an unmanned aircraft in the air
Military aviation is only a hundred years old, but it is already replete with spectacular inventions; the newest include attack unmanned aerial vehicles or combat drones. Over a century, the concept of air combat has changed radically, especially since the end of the Vietnam War. The aerial combat of the First and Second World Wars, using machine guns to destroy the enemy, has now become a page of history, and the advent of second-generation air-to-air missiles has also turned guns into a rather obsolete tool for this task, and now they are useful only as auxiliary weapons for bombarding the ground from the air. Today, this trend is reinforced by the emergence of hypersonic maneuverable missiles for hitting targets beyond visual range, which, when launched in large quantities and in tandem with missiles from a follower aircraft, for example, leave virtually no chance for evasive maneuver to any enemy flying at high altitude. The same situation is with modern weapons"ground-to-air", controlled by an instantly responsive network-centric air defense computer system. Indeed, the level of combat effectiveness of modern missiles, which easily enter a well-protected air space, has become higher than ever these days. Perhaps the only panacea for this is aircraft and cruise missiles with a reduced effective reflection area (ERA) or low-flying attack weapons with a flight mode and encircling terrain at an extremely low altitude.
At the beginning of the new millennium, American pilots wondered what new things could be done with remotely piloted aircraft, which had become quite a fashionable topic after its expanded use in military operations. As entry into heavily defended airspace became more and more dangerous and posed enormous risks to combat pilots, even those flying the latest jet fighter-bombers, the only way to solve this problem was to use weapons used outside the range of enemy weapons. , and/or the creation of stealth attack drones with high subsonic speed, capable of disappearing into the air through the use of special radar avoidance technologies, including radio-absorbing materials and advanced jamming modes. A new type of remotely controlled attack drone, using data links with enhanced encryption and frequency hopping, should be able to enter the protected “sphere” and command air defense systems without risking the lives of flight crews. Their excellent maneuverability with increased overloads (up to +/-15 g!) allows them to remain to some extent invulnerable to manned interceptors...
Aside from the “access denial/area blocking” philosophy
With two advanced stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk and the B-2 Spirit, unveiled with much fanfare and fanfare - the first in 1988 and the second a decade later - DARPA and the US Air Force played a major role in so that this new technology was successfully implemented and demonstrated its advantages in combat conditions. Although the stealth F-117 tactical strike aircraft has now been retired, some of the technology gained from the development of this unusual aircraft (which periodically became the target of outrage from zealous aestheticists) has been applied to new projects, such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning. II, and to an even greater extent in the promising B-21 bomber (LRS-B). One of the most secretive programs being implemented by the United States is associated with the further development of the UAV family using radar-absorbing materials and modern technologies for actively ensuring extremely low visibility.
Building on the Boeing X-45 and Northrop Grumman X-47 UAV technology demonstration programs, whose achievements and results remain largely classified, Boeing's Phantom Works division and Northrop Grumman's classified division continue to develop attack drones today. The RQ-180 UAV project, apparently being developed by Northrop Grumman, is shrouded in special secrecy. It is assumed that this platform will enter closed airspace and conduct constant reconnaissance and surveillance, while simultaneously performing the tasks of active electronic suppression of enemy manned aircraft. A similar project is being implemented by Lockheed Martin's Skunks Works division. On development stage hypersonic vehicle SR-72 solves the issues of safe operation of reconnaissance UAVs in protected airspace, both through the use of its own speed and through advanced radar-absorbing materials. Promising UAVs designed to break through modern (Russian) integrated air defense systems are also being developed by General Atomics; its new Avenger drone, also known as Predator C, includes many innovative stealth elements. In fact, it is vital for the Pentagon today, as before, to stay ahead of what Russia is creating in order to maintain the current military imbalance in favor of Washington. And for the United States, the attack drone is becoming one of the means to ensure this process.
Dassault's Neuron drone returns to Istres air base from a night mission, 2014. Flight tests of the Neuron in France, as well as in Italy and Sweden in 2015, demonstrated its superior flight characteristics and signature characteristics, but all of them still remain classified. The Neuron armed drone is not the only European program to demonstrate UCAV technology. BAE Systems is implementing the Taranis project, it has almost the same design and is equipped with the same RR Adour engine as the Neuron drone
UAV Taranis at an airbase in England, in the background a Typhoon fighter, 2015. Having almost the same dimensions and proportions as the Neuron, the Taranis, however, is more rounded and does not have weapons bays
What the developers of American UAVs call today “defensible airspace” is one of the components of the “access denial/area denial” concept or a unified (integrated) air defense system, successfully deployed today by the Russian armed forces, both in Russia itself and abroad. its borders in order to provide cover for expeditionary forces. No less smart and savvy than American military developers, although with significantly less money, Russian researchers from the Nizhny Novgorod Research Institute of Radio Engineering (NNIIRT) created a mobile two-coordinate radar station with a circular view of the meter range (from 30 MHz to 1 GHz) P-18 ( 1RL131) "Terek". The newest versions of this station with their specific frequency ranges can detect F-117 and B-2 bombers from several hundred kilometers, and this does not remain a mystery to Pentagon experts!
Beginning in 1975, NNIIRT developed the first three-coordinate radar station capable of measuring the altitude, range and azimuth of a target. As a result, the 55Zh6 “Sky” surveillance radar of the meter range appeared, deliveries of which to the armed forces of the USSR began in 1986. Later, after the demise of the Warsaw Pact, NNIIRT designed the 55Zh6 Nebo-U radar, which became part of the S-400 Triumph long-range air defense system, currently deployed around Moscow. In 2013, NNIIRT announced the next model 55Zh6M Nebo-M, which combines meter and decimeter range radars in a single module. With extensive experience in developing high-end stealth target detection systems, Russian industry is now very active in offering new digital variants of the P-18 radar to its allies, which can often simultaneously serve as a control radar air traffic. Russian engineers also created new digital mobile radar systems “Sky UE” and “Sky SVU” on a modern element base, all with the ability to detect subtle targets. Similar complexes for the formation unified systems The air defenses were later sold to China, giving Beijing a good irritant for the US military. The radar systems are expected to be deployed in Iran to defend against any Israeli attacks on its fledgling nuclear industry. All new Russian radars are semiconductor active phased array antennas, capable of operating in fast sector/path scanning mode or in traditional circular scanning mode with mechanically rotating antennas. The Russian idea of integrating three radars, each of which operates in a separate range (meter, decimeter, centimeter), is undoubtedly a breakthrough and is aimed at obtaining the ability to detect objects with extremely low signs of visibility.
Mobile two-dimensional all-round radar station P-18
Meter radar module from the 55Zh6ME "Sky-ME" complex
RLK 55Zh6M "Sky-M"; UHF radar module RLM-D
The Nebo-M radar complex itself is radically different from previous Russian systems, since it has good mobility. Its design was initially designed to avoid unexpected blitz destruction by American F-22A Raptor fighters (armed with GBU-39/B SDB bombs or JASSM cruise missiles), whose primary task is the destruction of low-frequency detection systems Russian system Air defense in the first minutes of the conflict. Included in mobile radar complex 55Zh6M "Sky-M" includes three different radar modules and one signal processing and control machine. The three radar modules of the Nebo M complex are: RDM-M meter range, a modification of the Nebo-SVU radar; UHF RLM-D, modification of the “Protivnik-G” radar; RLM-S centimeter range, modification of the Gamma-S1 radar. The system uses state-of-the-art digital moving target display and digital pulse Doppler radar technologies, as well as a spatial-temporal data processing method, which provides such air defense systems as the S-300, S-400 and S-500 with amazingly fast response, accuracy and the power of action against all targets, except for subtle ones flying at extremely low altitudes. As a reminder, one S-400 complex deployed Russian troops in Syria, was able to close a circular zone around Aleppo with a radius of approximately 400 km from access to allied aviation. The complex, armed with a combination of no less than 48 missiles (from 40N6 long-range to 9M96 medium-range), is capable of dealing with 80 targets simultaneously... In addition, it keeps Turkish F-16 fighters on their toes and keeps them from rash actions in the form of an attack on a Su-24 in December 2015, as the area controlled by the S-400 air defense system partially covers the southern border of Turkey.
For the United States, the research of the French company Onera, published in 1992, came as a complete surprise. They talked about the development of a 4D (four-coordinate) radar RIAS (Synthetic Antenna and Impulse Radar - an antenna with a synthetic aperture of pulsed radiation), based on the use of a transmitting antenna array (simultaneous radiation of a set of orthogonal signals) and a receiving antenna array (formation of a sampled signal in processing equipment signals providing Doppler frequency filtering, including spatio-temporal beamforming and target selection). The 4D principle allows the use of fixed sparse antenna arrays operating in the meter band, thus providing excellent Doppler separation. The great advantage of the low-frequency RIAS radar is that it generates a stable, irreducible target cross-sectional area, provides larger coverage area and better pattern analysis, as well as improved target localization accuracy and selectivity. Enough to fight subtle targets on the other side of the border...
China, the world champion in copying Western and Russian technologies, has made an excellent copy of a modern UAV, in which the external elements of the European Taranis and Neuron drones are clearly visible. First flown in 2013, Li-Jian (Sharp Sword) was jointly developed by Shenyang Aerospace University and Hongdu Company (HAIG). Apparently this is one of two AVIC 601-S models that has moved beyond the show model. The “sharp sword” with a wingspan of 7.5 meters has a jet engine (apparently a turbofan of Ukrainian origin)
Creation of stealthy UAVs
Well informed about the new effective anti-access system that will counter Western manned aircraft in war time, The Pentagon settled at the turn of the century on creating a new generation of stealth, jet-powered flying-wing attack drones. New unmanned vehicles with low visibility will be similar in shape to a stingray, tailless with a body smoothly turning into wings. They will have a length of approximately 10 meters, a height of one meter and a wingspan of about 15 meters (the naval version fits standard American aircraft carriers). The drones will be able to carry out either surveillance missions lasting up to 12 hours, or carry weapons weighing up to two tons over a distance of up to 650 nautical miles, cruising at speeds of about 450 knots, ideal for suppressing enemy air defenses or launching a first strike. Several years earlier, the US Air Force had brilliantly paved the way for the use of armed drones. The piston-engined RQ-1 Predator MALE drone, which first flew in 1994, was the first remotely controlled aerial platform capable of delivering air-to-ground weapons with precision. As a technologically advanced combat drone armed with two AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missiles, adopted by the Air Force in 1984, it has been successfully deployed in the Balkans, Iraq and Yemen, as well as Afghanistan. Undoubtedly, the vigilant sword of Damocles hangs over the heads of terrorists around the world!
Developed with funds from the secretive DARPA fund, the Boeing X-45A became the first “purely” attack drone to take off. He is pictured dropping a GPS-guided bomb for the first time, April 2004
If the Boeing company was the first creator of the X-45 UAV capable of dropping a bomb, then the American Navy was not involved in practical work according to UBLA until 2000. Then he awarded contracts to Boeing and Northrop Grumman for a program to study this concept. Requirements for the naval UAV project included operation in a corrosive environment, carrier deck takeoff and landing and associated maintenance, integration into command and control systems, and resistance to the high electromagnetic interference associated with aircraft carrier operating conditions. The Navy was also interested in purchasing UAVs for reconnaissance missions, in particular for penetrating protected airspace in order to identify targets for subsequent attack on them. Northrop Grumman's experimental X-47A Pegasus, which became the basis for the development of the X-47B J-UCAS platform, first took off in 2003. The US Navy and Air Force had their own UAV programs. The Navy has selected the Northrop Grumman X-47B platform as its UCAS-D unmanned combat system demonstrator. In order to conduct realistic testing, the company manufactured a vehicle of the same size and weight as the planned production platform, with a full-size weapons bay capable of accepting existing missiles. The X-47B prototype was rolled out in December 2008, and taxiing using its own engine took place for the first time in January 2010. The first flight of the X-47B drone, capable of semi-autonomous operation, took place in 2011. He later took part in real-life sea trials aboard aircraft carriers, flying missions alongside F-18F Super Hornet carrier-based fighters and receiving mid-air refueling from a KC-707 tanker. What can I say, a successful premiere in both areas.
An X-47B attack drone demonstrator is unloaded from the side lift of the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush (CVN77), May 2013. Like all US Navy fighters, the X-47B has folding wings.
Bottom view of the Northrop Grumman X-47B UAV, showing off its very futuristic lines. The drone, which has a wingspan of about 19 meters, is powered by a Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engine. It represents the first step towards a fully operational maritime strike drone, which is scheduled to become operational after 2020.
While the American industry was already testing the first models of its UAVs, other countries, albeit with a ten-year delay, began to create similar systems. Among them are the Russian RSK MiG with the Skat device and the Chinese CATIC with a very similar Dark Sword. In Europe, the British company BAE Systems went its own way with the Taranis project, and other countries joined forces to develop a project with the rather apt name nEUROn. In December 2012, nEUROn made its first flight in France. Flight tests to develop flight mode ranges and evaluate stealth characteristics were successfully completed in March 2015. These tests were followed by tests of on-board equipment in Italy, which were completed in August 2015. At the end of last summer, the last stage of flight testing took place in Sweden, during which tests on the use of weapons were carried out. The classified test results are called positive.
The contract for the nEUROn project worth 405 million euros is being implemented by several European countries, including France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. This allowed European industry to begin a three-year refinement phase of the system's concept and design, with associated research into visibility and increased data rates. This phase was followed by a development and assembly phase, ending with the first flight in 2011. During two years of flight testing, approximately 100 missions were flown, including the dropping of a laser-guided bomb. The initial budget of 400 million euros in 2006 increased by 5 million because a modular bomb bay was added, including a target designator and the laser-guided bomb itself. France paid half of the total budget.
With a pair of 250 kg bombs stowed in a modular bomb bay, a Neuron drone takes off from an airfield in Swedish Lapland, summer 2016. Then the capabilities of this UAV as a bomber were successfully assessed. The rarely seen registration designation F-ZWLO (LO stands for Low EPO) is visible on the front landing gear compartment flap
A 250 kg bomb dropped by a Neuron drone over a test site in Sweden in the summer of 2015. Five bombs were dropped, confirming the Neuron's capabilities as a stealth attack drone. Some of these tests in real conditions were carried out under the supervision of Saab, which, along with Dassault, Aiema, Airbus DS, Ruag and HAI, is implementing this program for advanced UCAV, which will most likely culminate in the creation of a promising FCAS (Future Combat Air System) strike air system. by about 2030
Potential of the British-French UAV
In November 2014, the French and British governments announced a two-year, €146 million feasibility study for an advanced attack drone project. This could lead to the implementation of a stealth UAV program, which will combine the experience of the Taranis and nEUROn projects to create a single promising attack drone. Indeed, in January 2014, at the British airbase Brize Norton, Paris and London signed a statement of intent on the future combat air system FCAS (Future Combat Air System). Since 2010, Dassault Aviation has worked with its partners Alenia, Saab and Airbus Defense & Space on the nEUROn project, and BAE Systems on its own Taranis project. Both flying wing aircraft have the same Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan engine. The decision made in 2014 gives new impetus to joint research already being implemented in this direction. It is also an important step towards British-French cooperation in the field of military aircraft. It is possible that it could become the basis for another first-class achievement like the Concorde aircraft project. This decision will undoubtedly contribute to the development of this strategic area, as UCAV projects will help maintain the technological expertise in the aviation industry at the level of world standards.
A drawing of what could become a future FCAS (Future Combat Air System) strike air system. The project is being developed jointly by the UK and France based on the experience of implementing the Taranis and Neuron projects. A new, radar-undetectable attack drone may not be born until 2030
Meanwhile, the European FCAS program and similar American programs UBLA faces certain difficulties, since defense budgets on both sides of the Atlantic are quite tight. It will take more than 10 years before stealth UAVs begin to take over from manned combat aircraft in high-risk missions. Experts in the field of military unmanned systems believe that the air force will begin deploying stealth attack drones no earlier than 2030.
Based on materials from sites:
www.nationaldefensemagazine.org
www.ga.com
www.northropgrumman.com
www.dassault-aviation.com
www.nniirt.ru
www.hongdu.com.cn
www.boeing.com
www.baesystems.com
www.wikipedia.org
Ctrl Enter
Noticed osh Y bku Select text and click Ctrl+Enter
Russia is developing long-range supersonic drones to destroy enemy air defenses. As he writes The National Interest, citing leading US military experts, the UAV will be able to fly at different speeds and maneuver, and this will make it a difficult target for NATO anti-aircraft guns.
Earlier, Alexander Nemov, deputy research department of the Central Research Institute of the Air Force of the Ministry of Defense, told the Zvezda TV channel that the promising drone will be able to hit both stationary and moving targets in operational strategic depth.
The United States took this Russian development very seriously. Center for Naval Analysis specialist Sam Bendett says that a projectile flying low and at high speed is extremely difficult to shoot down. And if he manages to destroy the radars and missile defense system, the effectiveness of such a flight will be simply prohibitive.
Another plus is that there is no need to fear for the life of a pilot who simply does not exist. During World War II, the most experienced pilots were sent to perform similar dangerous missions. Even if they did not manage to destroy the enemy anti-aircraft guns, they revealed their coordinates - such is reconnaissance in force.
According to Bendett, Russian designers will definitely pay great attention to protection against electronic warfare and “stuff” UAVs with stealth technologies. Otherwise, the device will quickly fail. The same USA has the most modern systems that allow you to intercept control of a drone or throw it off course.
By developing such a UAV, Russia demonstrates that it adheres to the tactics of destroying enemy strategic targets on its territory before the main attack.
The United States has a similar plan, which is already producing similar drones. Thus, last summer, the American company Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presented at the Le Bourget air show the supersonic XQ-222 drone, named “Valkyrie” in honor of the legendary bomber. The range of the drone is 5 thousand 500 km, the first flight is expected this year. The device has the same task - to break through the missile defense defense in the European part of Russia. Like the UTAP-22 Mako, which is already being tested in the USA. The Americans are doing their best to simulate the destruction of Russian S-400s by drones.
But when the Russian supersonic UAV will take off is still unknown. But definitely not earlier than 2020.
While the Ministry of Defense is preparing to adopt the Zenitsa medium-range jet attack drone, made on the basis of the Soviet Tu-143 Reis. But this drone only accelerates to 820 km/h, and its flight range is only 750 kilometers. Such a UAV will perform completely different tasks. Supersonic is only planned to be produced.
UAV Tu-123. Photo: wikipedia.org
But the most interesting thing is that the USSR had one - the Tu-123, developed back in the 60s. last century. Initially, the projectile aircraft was supposed to carry a thermonuclear charge. But when cold war subsided slightly, the Soviet UAV was converted into a reconnaissance aircraft. For quite a long time, drones flew near European borders until they were replaced by the MiG-25R.
After the breakup Soviet Union work on UAVs, as well as on new aircraft, was abandoned. And now we have a hard time catching up with the United States, and at the same time China.
The advent of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has significantly expanded the possibilities armed forces and reduced human losses. Their use made it possible to carry out dangerous missions without risking the lives of pilots.
For a long time, drones were assigned the role of targets for military pilots and operators. anti-aircraft installations. However, the scientific and technological revolution in the field of radio engineering, optics and electronics became the foundation for the creation of heavy multi-purpose devices capable of conducting reconnaissance and delivering strikes for several days.
The greatest successes in this field have been achieved by the United States and Israel. IN American army there are about 500 attack drones. Experts believe that Russia will take into account the experience of their use in the fight against illegal armed groups in Syria.
Scope of application
Currently, the Russian army does not have attack drones. About 70 UAVs are involved in the Syrian operation - light tactical devices "Orlan-10" and "Eleron-3" and heavy "Forposts".
The devices perform missions to patrol the area around the Khmeimim airbase and the port of Tartus, to search for and additional reconnaissance of targets, and to monitor the area after missile and bomb attacks by the Aerospace Forces. In particular, the use of “Outposts” allows you to keep track of hit targets and demonstrate the work of the videoconferencing to the whole world.
Director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) Ruslan Pukhov told RT that the Syrian campaign made it possible to realize the need for several new types of weapons, including attack drones, to appear in the Russian Armed Forces.
- Unmanned aerial vehicles "Zastava", "Orlan"
- Press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The head of the department for research of Middle Eastern conflicts and the armed forces of the region at the Institute for Innovative Development, Anton Mardasov, is confident that the use of attack drones is in demand in Syria both today and in the future.
The expert explained that after the end of the main phase of the operation, the scope of use of UAVs may expand. According to him, the disappearance of the military structure of IS* and the movement of gangs underground “will require Russian group more exquisite work on destroying ground targets.”
Mardasov believes that the lion's share of tasks in the SAR will be able to be performed by domestic attack drones, which should soon enter service. Heavy UAVs are optimal for performing limited missions - for example, to destroy command post, individual moving targets, a concentration of manpower in an urban area or a militant warehouse.
Application prospect
American experience in Afghanistan shows that attack UAVs can minimize the risk to the lives of personnel and civilians. However, the key to the combat effectiveness of drones is competent reconnaissance.
In Afghanistan, due to a lack of intelligence from January 2012 to February 2013, out of 200 “militants” eliminated by drones, 35 turned out to be civilians. The reason for the mistakes was not malice, but a lack of complete information about the targets being hit.
It is assumed that attack UAVs will be able to remain in the air for several days, monitoring the area, and hit unexpectedly appearing mobile groups of terrorists before aircraft arrive. Such tactics can increase the level of efficiency of the Russian Aerospace Forces group and reduce the likelihood of unexpected counterattacks by militants, from which the Syrian army constantly suffers.
Mardasov believes that the prospects for use in modern warfare The UAV was recognized by the Russian command during the 2008 South Ossetian conflict, during which Georgian troops used American and Israeli-made drones. Now, according to him, in Russia there is a reassessment of the attitude towards impact vehicles.
“In order to close the gap in the range of weapons as quickly as possible, Israeli light drones Bird Eye 400 and heavy IAI Searcher 2 were purchased. In 2012, the Ural Civil Aviation Plant began production of a licensed copy of Searcher 2 - “Forpost”, developed at OJSC RTI Systems ", said Mardasov.
The expert noted that Israel sold Moscow a UAV with limited functionality. This stimulated Russia to make active efforts to create its own heavy vehicles that correspond to foreign analogues.
“The Syrian campaign has confirmed the need for the Russian army to have not only light, but also heavy UAVs. The larger the device, the more equipment best quality it can carry and, accordingly, the wider the range of tasks performed by the drone and the higher the efficiency of its use,” Mardasov noted.
"Orion", "Altair", "Hunter"
Chief editor of UAV.ru, aviation expert Denis Fedutinov explained to RT that heavy UAVs, as a rule, combine reconnaissance and attack functions. In the United States, the first mass-produced drone of this type was the MQ-1 Reaper. In 2007, at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, the first attack squadron in the United States was formed from these devices.
The expert said that Russia is currently developing several complexes of heavy UAVs. We are talking about the Orion devices of the Kronstadt company, Altair of the OKB im. Simonov and "Okhotnik" of the Sukhoi Design Bureau.
- Prototype demonstrator of an unmanned aerial vehicle aircraft heavy class "Altair" developed by JSC NPO OKB named after M.P. Simonov."
- americanmilitaryforum.com
“Drawing certain parallels with foreign UAV systems of a similar class, we can assume that, due to their size and associated capabilities, they could potentially be carriers of not only reconnaissance equipment, but also weapons,” Fedutinov said.
According to him, the Russian army has gained some experience in using light vehicles, which will be useful when heavy reconnaissance and attack UAVs enter the army. In particular, practical skills in the technical operation of Eleron-3, Orlan-10, Zastava and Forpost can be transferred to the new drones.
“I believe that for the operation of reconnaissance and attack UAVs of a fairly heavy class, separate units will be created in the Air Force structure, in which military personnel will specialize exclusively in the use of drones and their maintenance,” Fedutinov said.
UAVs not only expand the capabilities existing species weapons due to interaction in a single intelligence and information field, but also gradually become independent combat units. Drones are one of the key elements the future replacement of people with machines on the battlefield, Fedutinov believes.
“Due to a number of objective circumstances, Russia lagged behind in the development of UAVs. Now the situation is changing in better side, since there are opportunities not only to apply the best developments of the past, but also to work them out in practice, that is, in combat conditions,” concluded RT’s interlocutor.
Just 20 years ago, Russia was one of the world leaders in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. Only 950 Tu-143 aerial reconnaissance aircraft were produced in the 80s of the last century.
The famous reusable spaceship"Buran", which made its first and only flight in completely unmanned mode. I don’t see any point in somehow giving up on the development and use of drones now.
Background of Russian drones (Tu-141, Tu-143, Tu-243). In the mid-sixties, the Tupolev Design Bureau began creating new unmanned reconnaissance systems for tactical and operational purposes. On August 30, 1968, Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N 670-241 was issued on the development of a new unmanned system tactical reconnaissance"Flight" (VR-3) and the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft "143" (Tu-143) included in it. The deadline for presenting the complex for testing was specified in the Resolution: for the version with photo reconnaissance equipment - 1970, for the version with equipment for television reconnaissance and for the version with equipment for radiation reconnaissance - 1972.
The Tu-143 reconnaissance UAV was mass-produced in two variants with a replaceable nose part: a photo reconnaissance version with recording information on board, and a television reconnaissance version with the transmission of information via radio to ground command posts. In addition, the reconnaissance aircraft could be equipped with radiation reconnaissance equipment with the transmission of materials about the radiation situation along the flight route to the ground via a radio channel. The Tu-143 UAV is presented at an exhibition of aviation equipment at the Central Aerodrome in Moscow and at the Museum in Monino (you can also see the Tu-141 UAV there).
As part of the aerospace show in Zhukovsky MAKS-2007 near Moscow, in the closed part of the exhibition, the MiG aircraft manufacturing corporation showed its attack unmanned system "Scat" - an aircraft designed according to the "flying wing" design and outwardly very reminiscent of the American bomber B-2 Spirit or its a smaller version is the X-47B maritime unmanned aerial vehicle.
"Scat" is designed to strike both pre-reconnaissance stationary targets, primarily air defense systems, in conditions of strong opposition from enemy anti-aircraft weapons, and mobile ground and sea targets when conducting autonomous and group actions, joint with manned aircraft.
Its maximum take-off weight should be 10 tons. Flight range - 4 thousand kilometers. Flight speed near the ground is at least 800 km/h. It will be able to carry two air-to-surface/air-to-radar missiles or two adjustable aerial bombs with a total mass of no more than 1 ton.
The aircraft is designed according to the flying wing design. In addition, well-known techniques for reducing radar signature were clearly visible in the design. Thus, the wingtips are parallel to its leading edge and the contours of the rear part of the device are made in exactly the same way. Above the middle part of the wing, the Skat had a fuselage characteristic shape, smoothly coupled with load-bearing surfaces. Vertical tail was not provided. As can be seen from the photographs of the Skat model, control was to be carried out using four elevons located on the consoles and on the center section. At the same time, certain questions were immediately raised by the yaw controllability: due to the lack of a rudder and a single-engine design, the UAV needed to somehow solve this problem. There is a version about a single deflection of the internal elevons for yaw control.
The model presented at the MAKS-2007 exhibition had the following dimensions: a wingspan of 11.5 meters, a length of 10.25 and a parking height of 2.7 m. Regarding the mass of the Skat, all that is known is that its maximum take-off weight should have been approximately equal to ten tons. With such parameters, the Skat had good calculated flight data. At maximum speed up to 800 km/h it could rise to a height of up to 12 thousand meters and cover up to 4000 kilometers in flight. Such flight performance was planned to be achieved using a two-circuit turbojet engine RD-5000B with a thrust of 5040 kgf. This turbojet engine was created on the basis of the RD-93 engine, but was initially equipped with a special flat nozzle, which reduces the visibility of the aircraft in the infrared range. The engine air intake was located in the forward part of the fuselage and was an unregulated intake device.
Inside the characteristically shaped fuselage, the Skat had two cargo compartments measuring 4.4 x 0.75 x 0.65 meters. With such dimensions, it was possible to suspend guided missiles in the cargo compartments various types, as well as adjustable bombs. The total mass of the Stingray's combat load should have been approximately two tons. During the presentation at the MAKS-2007 salon, next to the Skat there were Kh-31 missiles and KAB-500 adjustable bombs. The composition of the on-board equipment implied by the project was not disclosed. Based on information about other projects of this class, we can draw conclusions about the presence of a complex of navigation and sighting equipment, as well as some capabilities for autonomous actions.
The Dozor-600 UAV (developed by Transas designers), also known as Dozor-3, is much lighter than the Skat or Proryv. Its maximum take-off weight does not exceed 710-720 kilograms. Moreover, due to the classic aerodynamic layout with a full fuselage and a straight wing, it has approximately the same dimensions as the Stingray: a wingspan of twelve meters and a total length of seven. In the bow of the Dozor-600 there is space for target equipment, and in the middle there is a stabilized platform for observation equipment. A propeller group is located in the tail section of the drone. It is based on a Rotax 914 piston engine, similar to those installed on the Israeli IAI Heron UAV and the American MQ-1B Predator.
The 115 horsepower engine allows the Dozor-600 drone to accelerate to a speed of about 210-215 km/h or make long flights at a cruising speed of 120-150 km/h. When using additional fuel tanks, this UAV is capable of staying in the air for up to 24 hours. Thus, the practical flight range is approaching 3,700 kilometers.
Based on the characteristics of the Dozor-600 UAV, we can draw conclusions about its purpose. Its relatively low take-off weight does not allow it to transport any serious weapons, which limits the range of tasks it can perform exclusively to reconnaissance. However, a number of sources mention the possibility of installing various weapons on the Dozor-600, the total mass of which does not exceed 120-150 kilograms. Because of this, the range of weapons permissible for use is limited only to certain types guided missiles, in particular anti-tank ones. It is noteworthy that when using anti-tank guided missiles, the Dozor-600 becomes largely similar to the American MQ-1B Predator, both in technical characteristics and in the composition of its weapons.
Hunter
Heavy attack unmanned aerial vehicle project. The development of the research project “Hunter” to study the possibility of creating an attack UAV weighing up to 20 tons in the interests of the Russian Air Force was or is being carried out by the Sukhoi company (JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau). For the first time, the plans of the Ministry of Defense to put into service an attack UAV were announced at the MAKS-2009 air show in August 2009. According to a statement by Mikhail Pogosyan in August 2009, the design of a new attack unmanned system was supposed to be the first joint work of the corresponding departments of the Sukhoi and MiG Design Bureaus (project " Skat"). The media reported the conclusion of a contract for the implementation of the Okhotnik research work with the Sukhoi company on July 12, 2011. In August 2011, the merger of the relevant divisions of RSK MiG and Sukhoi to develop a promising strike UAV was confirmed in the media, but the official agreement between MiG " and "Sukhoi" were signed only on October 25, 2012.
The terms of reference for the strike UAV were approved by the Russian Ministry of Defense on the first of April 2012. On July 6, 2012, information appeared in the media that the Sukhoi company had been selected by the Russian Air Force as the lead developer. An unnamed industry source also reports that the attack UAV developed by Sukhoi will simultaneously be a sixth-generation fighter. As of mid-2012, it is expected that the first sample of the strike UAV will begin testing no earlier than 2016. It is expected to enter service by 2020. In 2012, JSC VNIIRA carried out a selection of patent materials on the topic of R&D "Hunter", and in In the future, it was planned to create navigation systems for landing and taxiing heavy UAVs on the instructions of Sukhoi Company OJSC (source).
Media reports that the first sample of a heavy attack UAV named after the Sukhoi Design Bureau will be ready in 2018.
Combat use (otherwise they will say exhibition copies are Soviet junk)
“For the first time in the world, the Russian Armed Forces carried out an attack on a fortified area of militants with combat drones. In the province of Latakia, army units of the Syrian army, with the support of Russian paratroopers and Russian combat drones, took the strategic height of 754.5, the Siriatel tower.
More recently, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Gerasimov, said that Russia is striving to completely robotize the battle, and perhaps soon we will witness how robotic groups independently conduct military operations, and this is what happened.
In Russia in 2013 it was put into service Airborne forces newest automated control system "Andromeda-D", with the help of which you can carry out operational control of a mixed group of troops.
The use of the latest high-tech equipment allows the command to ensure continuous control of troops performing combat training missions at unfamiliar training grounds, and the Airborne Forces command to monitor their actions, being at a distance of more than 5 thousand kilometers from their deployment sites, receiving from the training area not only a graphic picture of the moving units, but also video images of their actions in real time.
Depending on the tasks, the complex can be mounted on the chassis of a two-axle KamAZ, BTR-D, BMD-2 or BMD-4. Moreover, given specifics of the Airborne Forces, "Andromeda-D" is adapted for loading into an aircraft, flight and landing.
This system, as well as combat drones, were deployed to Syria and tested in combat conditions.
Six Platform-M robotic complexes and four Argo complexes took part in the attack on the heights; the drone attack was supported by self-propelled drones recently deployed to Syria artillery installations(self-propelled guns) "Acacia", which can destroy enemy positions with overhead fire.
From the air, behind the battlefield, drones conducted reconnaissance, transmitting information to the deployed Andromeda-D field center, as well as to Moscow to the National Defense Control Center of the command post General Staff Russia.
Combat robots, self-propelled guns, and drones were linked to the Andromeda-D automated control system. The commander of the attack to the heights, in real time, led the battle, the operators of combat drones, being in Moscow, led the attack, everyone saw both their own area of the battle and the whole picture as a whole.
The drones were the first to attack, approaching 100-120 meters to the militants’ fortifications, they called fire on themselves, and immediately attacked the detected firing points with self-propelled guns.
Behind the drones, at a distance of 150-200 meters, Syrian infantry advanced, clearing the heights.
The militants did not have the slightest chance, all their movements were controlled by drones, artillery strikes were carried out on the discovered militants, literally 20 minutes after the start of the attack by combat drones, the militants fled in horror, abandoning the dead and wounded. On the slopes of height 754.5, almost 70 militants were killed, there were no dead Syrian soldiers, only 4 wounded.”
