The car has already passed its baptism of fire in the area of its
A new heavy tactical drone has been shown in Moscow, which is twice as fast as its main Ukrainian rival, the Baba Yaga type UAV. The Russian device was named Gorgon. The machine underwent a baptism of fire on the front line — it has a large number of destroyed targets. The new drone is part of a line of drones named after the heroes of ancient myths. All these "fabulous" devices were presented on July 3 at one of the Moscow design bureaus.
The Deadly Gorgon
In a large room, two young men open a wooden box containing a drone. They wind up the propellers on it and step aside. After a couple of seconds, a rumble is heard — a large 15-inch Gorgon hexacopter drone rises from the box. The car makes a small circle around the room and freezes in the air.
This is how the demonstration of tactical UAVs developed by Aviatechnolab and tested with the support of the Kulibin Club of the Popular Front began.
It is convenient to view a suspended car. The six-beam frame made of lightweight plastic is somewhat reminiscent of disheveled hair. Because of this, the drone really looks like the gorgon Medusa, the destroyer of sailors.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image Source: iz.ru
Powerful motors power propellers that drive air from corner to corner of a spacious room. There is a special payload holder at the bottom.
I ask the developers how much such a device can lift.
— Up to 10 kg, — explains Svyatoslav, an employee of the company. — This allows you to carry a TM-62 mine and powerful engineering charges. With the help of a drone, you can destroy dugouts and even "dismantle" buildings: 10 kg is solid. With our hexacopter, the fighters even demolished a building with enemy personnel. Of course, the device is also suitable for remote mining. That's why it was created in many ways.
But the car turned out to be extremely versatile. In particular, the Gorgon is very useful in supplying advanced units, which the carrier fighters can approach only at serious risk of their lives.
— You can carry everything: ammunition, water, food and other supplies necessary for our infantry, — says Svyatoslav.
The range of the returnable drone is 10 km. Moreover, the radius of application will increase significantly if the payload of the device is reduced, the developers of the machine say.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
The machine surpasses the Ukrainian Baba Yaga drone in many characteristics, which annoys our fighters in the area of their own defense.
— In a dive, the maximum speed reaches 90 km/ h, — explains Svyatoslav. — The Ukrainian drone is twice as slow. It turns out that it is much more difficult to hit our car with the same small arms.
And the Gorgon is quieter. As a rule, gasoline engines are installed on Ukrainian drones. Therefore, they announce their approach from afar, provide an opportunity to hide or prepare for the meeting of an unexpected guest. Due to the electric motors, the enemy will only be able to hear the Gorgon at close range, when it is practically above the target.
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| Gorgon hexacopter drone. |
| Source: iz.ru |
Our developers also have larger Gorgon sister models on the way. A version of the 18-inch drone is already ready, and a 22-inch device is currently being developed that can carry up to 50 kg of payload. They will also have something unpleasant to surprise the enemy with.
"Icarus" and others
Other designer products are displayed in the adjacent room. They also got names from ancient Greek mythology: "Icarus", "Perseus" and "Helios".
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
"Icarus" is the flagship in the line of "antique" drones. This is a ten-inch machine, which can be equipped with replaceable (without soldering) video transmitters, radios, tape reset, convenient mounts for the warhead, rotary cameras with switching from a twilight camera to a thermal imager.
Already, several tens of thousands of these vehicles have been transferred to the Russian military in their area of defense. According to the company, the production of Icars is planned to increase to hundreds of thousands of units per year.
There is a small drone with a removable antenna nearby — this is the Perseus air repeater. It provides continuous video transmission within a radius of up to 30 km, operation in difficult terrain and beyond the radio horizon. The device weighs only 240 g.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image Source: iz.ru
The design bureau has also developed its own ground control station, Helios, which transmits an amplified control signal and receives a video signal using a patch antenna.
The system is divided into two parts: a case, where the control system for the operator of the FPV drone is mounted, and a control unit located on the mast, where the receiving and transmitting antennas are fixed. It allows you to perform tasks at a distance of more than 60 km.
The vehicles shown have a large number of destroyed targets.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
"Drones have performed well in combat conditions,— Svyatoslav, an employee of the company, told Izvestia. — They work flawlessly and efficiently. In particular, they were used to destroy the American-made Abrams tank. He was hit by a shaped charge from an RPG grenade launcher suspended on the device — of course, it took several rounds of ammunition to finish him off. There are also several Bradley drones, Kazak cars, and manpower. The guys working on the front line didn't even count the repeaters, dugouts, buildings.
The Sharp-sighted "Sparrow"
Production of a large number of drones is currently underway in Russia. Earlier, Izvestia wrote about a drone with a "flying binoculars" function. It allows you to observe certain sections of the front for a long time and independently recognize military equipment. The new device was named "Sparrow".
The machine is as compact and convenient as possible to carry in combat conditions — it received a body with folding beams and screws. It is produced in two versions — day and night (with a thermal imager).
Bogdan Stepovoy
