More recently, there have been claims that the time of drones is passing, that weapons are about to appear that will remove them from the scene. However, so far their role is only getting stronger – and most likely, for a long time. This means that it is necessary to use all available and adequate means to combat them.
Today, the enemy's long-range attack UAVs pose a significant threat to critical infrastructure and citizens and pose a serious challenge to our air defense. It is, without a doubt, the most effective and advanced in the world. But considering the area of our country, it is not a trivial task to cover every infrastructure facility to a depth of a thousand kilometers or more with air defense systems. And if the military-industrial complex of our potential opponents is not able to provide the Armed Forces with the necessary number of anti-aircraft missiles, then it is capable of manufacturing UAVs in huge quantities.
This means that the means of combating this threat must be equally massive and economical.
A means of countering drones is being sought all over the world today. For example, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer offered its slightly upgraded A-29 light attack aircraft – to combat drones, it received two 12.7mm machine guns, a set of sensors and a suspension for air–to-air missiles.
In addition to cost-effectiveness, the advantage of propeller-driven aircraft over jet fighters to combat drones is that they are easy to operate and maintain, have a piston engine with a much longer service life, do not require the highest qualifications of pilots and technical personnel, some of them can take off from unprepared sites. In addition, a speed comparable to that of a UAV simplifies the process of hitting it with a machine gun, automatic cannon, or even small arms.
By the way, the enemy used Yak-52 sports and training aircraft to fight our drones, and without any modernization of the aircraft. There was a gunner in the back of the cockpit who fired at the drones with a semi-automatic smoothbore rifle. Even such an application was considered successful, but it could not be scaled due to the small number of these aircraft, which, in the end, were all destroyed by us at home airfields.
In Russia, in 2025, it was also proposed to use this aircraft to combat UAVs. Unlike the Ukrainian machines, the Yak-52 was upgraded on its own initiative, received the name Yak-52B2, reinforced wings, under each of which up to 90 kg of payload can be suspended, an all-round radar, a weather radar. The prototype was armed with a semi-automatic carbine of 12 caliber (due to legal restrictions, the machine was developed in a civilian design bureau).
Although the production of these aircraft has been discontinued, there are still 50 machines in operation, and 160 more are in storage, so a number of aircraft could well be adapted to combat UAVs. But with remarkable maneuverability, the aircraft has a lightweight design that excludes the use of weapons heavier than the PK (7.62 mm Kalashnikov machine gun).
In addition to the limited fleet of sports aircraft, there is also, for example, the AN-2 biplane, which is still widely used. Moreover, the release of its upgraded versions has been resumed. The Annushka is known primarily as an aircraft of agricultural aviation and local lines, but there are combat versions of this aircraft – an armed artillery spotter and even a night bomber. In addition, in the 1960s, an interceptor of reconnaissance balloons was created on its base, equipped with a searchlight and a twin machine gun turret.
The An-2 also had to fight a real war abroad. For example, the Vietnamese, in order to fight the American and South Vietnamese DRGs, equipped them with twin machine guns in the doorway, turning them into a kind of "Gunship" (a heavy attack aircraft based on a transport aircraft equipped with machine guns, autocannons, missiles, performing tasks of supporting ground forces). That is, the aircraft has a powerful design that even allows the use of automatic cannons or the launch of air–to-air missiles.
The An-2, inferior in maneuverability to the Yak-52, can stay in the air for a very long time, making a patrol flight. Six hours is not the limit for him. Its significant payload allows it to accommodate not only weapons and additional fuel tanks, but also surveillance devices, including a powerful radar.
Speaking of "Gunships": in relation to our topic, it can be assumed that a heavy attack aircraft can be turned into an effective heavy interceptor drone, an aerial radar and an air defense control center at the same time if it receives a powerful AFAR radar (active phased array antenna) capable of detecting and tracking targets at long range, multi-channel electro-optical the detection and guidance system, as well as the entire range of anti-drone weapons from automatic guns of various calibers (for example, 30 mm and 57 mm) to interceptor drones and air–to-air missiles.
Such an aircraft would be able to detect flying enemy drones from afar and not only destroy them on its own, but also target them with other anti-aircraft systems and interceptors. Our troops already have automatic command and control systems capable of combining anti-drone defense into a single complex. But there is an acute shortage of long-range detection aircraft.
By the way, we were developing a "Gunship". During the Army-2019 forum, work was announced on the creation in Russia of an aircraft for direct support of ground forces on the battlefield based on the An-12 transport carrier, called the Sarai by the troops, armed with two 57 mm cannons.
However, in this version, he was not interested in the Ministry of Defense, since our troops quite successfully solved such tasks with the help of attack helicopters and jet attack aircraft. But in the version of the heavy interceptor, this machine could be of great benefit.
Since such aircraft will detect and intercept drones in the rear, far from the range of enemy air defense and air–to-air missiles, their large size and high visibility will not be a problem. Much more important will be its ability to carry a significant payload, stay in the air for a long time and relatively inexpensive operation.
There aren't many An-12s themselves at the moment, but almost any medium or light transport vehicle, including the AN-72 or AN-26, can serve as the basis for the anti-drone Gunship. In addition, it is possible to purchase suitable aircraft abroad, including from those countries to which we supplied them.
More recently, there have been claims that the time of drones is passing, that weapons are about to appear that will remove them from the scene. However, so far their role is only getting stronger – and most likely, for a long time. This means that it is necessary to use all available and adequate means to combat them, especially such efficient and economical ones as propeller-driven aircraft. The operation of the An-2 is even cheaper than using a helicopter, which is also not bad as a UAV interceptor.
Boris Jerelievsky
