The armed Forces are showing increasing interest in UAVs
In October, the Aerospace Forces received the first batch of Orion multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as control points. The novelty was developed as part of the development work of "Pacer" and lasted for more than nine years. Also last year, active testing of the unique supersonic reconnaissance and strike drone S-70 "Hunter", made using stealth technology, began. The machine performed both independent flights and was controlled from the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter.
Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko said that by the end of 2021, the first "Hunters"are expected to be delivered to the troops. Active work also continued on other types of unmanned aerial vehicles. There were photos of a heavy UAV being developed as part of the Altius project, the drone was captured with bombs suspended under the wings.
In his interview, the head of the Rostec corporation, Sergey Chemezov, said that work is continuing on another unmanned novelty. We are talking about the UAV "Corsair". Three years ago, the device was officially shown for the first time at the Victory Parade. However, since that time, information on the "Corsair" has been very limited.
You can talk for a long time about the tactical and technical characteristics of the latest Russian drones, about what weapons they carry, and compare them with foreign competitors. But it is much more interesting to understand how the structure of the Russian unmanned aircraft will be organized with the arrival of the latest devices, which parts and divisions will include the Hunter, Orion, and Altius, and what tasks they will solve.
Air educational program
Currently, unmanned aircraft are part of all types of the Russian Armed Forces. The Ground Forces have the largest fleet of drones. The exact number of drones is not disclosed, but it can be assumed that there are more than one and a half thousand.
The basis of the unmanned fleet of the Ground Forces is the UAV family "Orlan-10", as well as" Garnet"," Aileron "and"Tachyon". According to the state, companies of unmanned aerial vehicles are assigned to motorized rifle and tank brigades and divisions. Also, similar drone units are being formed in the newly created separate intelligence brigades.
The "unmanned" company of the combined arms brigade and division has two platoons. The first is a short-range platoon. It is armed with unmanned systems "Orlan-10" and "Tachyon-4". The second platoon is called "short-range", since its "main caliber" is the UAV "Granat".-1, 2, 3, 4" "Zastava", "Tachyon" and "Aileron".
It should be noted that the UAV companies of divisions and brigades of Airborne Troops, as well as Marine Corps units, have a similar organizational and staff structure. However, in the Airborne Forces, the formation of unmanned units has already been generally completed. At the same time, in the brigades and regiments of black berets, unmanned companies and platoons are still being formed. For example, UAVs are already part of the 61st (Northern Fleet) and 40th (Pacific Fleet, Kamchatka) separate marine brigades.
Unmanned units are part of artillery, engineer-sapper, missile, reconnaissance and even railway brigades. Mostly it is separate platoons in the middle of the action. For example, engineers use drones to survey enemy minefields and fortifications, while railway workers use them to assess the condition of the trackbed, as well as the amount of damage to bridges and other infrastructure. In missile brigades, drones are used to select suitable positions of the Iskander complexes, as well as to protect them.
Quite an interesting organizational and staff structure of UAV units in the artillery brigades. In addition to the platoons equipped with "Orlan-10", they include calculations of the latest "Orion-30" drones, as well as platoons of BKAR-unmanned artillery reconnaissance systems. It is expected that unmanned units will be organized in the same way as part of the newly formed artillery brigade of the Airborne Troops.
"Orlan-thirty" are used for targeting high-precision guided shells of the "Krasnopol" type and mortars. Their calculations are part of the management of the brigade. But the BKAR complex created on the basis of the Orlan-10 is subordinate to the artillery intelligence units.
As part of the Aerospace Forces, several squadrons of unmanned aerial vehicles have been formed-separate and part of aviation regiments. Until recently, UAVs of the "Outpost"family were in service with unmanned units and divisions of the VKS.
But recently, the unmanned fleet of the Aerospace Forces has been replenished with "Orlan-10". As the Ministry of Defense reported last fall, a separate aviation squadron was formed to ensure the operation of the Plesetsk airfield. In addition to helicopters and airplanes, it also includes Orlan-10 UAVs. The task of drones is to ensure the safety of rocket launches from the spaceport.
But the most original organization of unmanned aircraft can boast of the Navy. Only in the Navy there are separate UAV regiments. They are armed with drones of the "Outpost" family and the ubiquitous "Orlan-10". It is noteworthy that the latter work not only from the land. Since 2018, the calculations of the "Eagles" are based on the decks of corvettes and frigates of the Russian Navy.
The first marine unmanned regiment was formed as part of the Northern Fleet. Currently, it is expected that another such part will appear in the Crimea (according to other sources, it has already been formed on the peninsula).
Also, separate unmanned squadrons of "Outposts" are part of several regiments of Naval Aviation, in particular, the 689th Fighter Regiment in Kaliningrad, the 318th (Crimea) and the 71st (Kamchatka) mixed aviation regiments.
The regiments and squadrons of naval drones work not only in the interests of ships and submarines. They also provide combat work for individual artillery and coastal missile and artillery brigades, as well as coastal defense units.
"Le Corsaire" melee hunter
Having understood the structure of the Russian military unmanned fleet, we will try to guess how the new products will fit into it. We can expect that the latest "Corsairs" will be part of separate companies of unmanned aircraft of combined arms brigades and divisions, as well as separate reconnaissance brigades. At least one "corsair" platoon will be added to each unmanned company. The task of the units equipped with the Corsair UAV will be to conduct visual and radio reconnaissance, as well as to deliver high-precision strikes.
For the first time, "Corsair" was shown to the general public at the Victory Parade in May 2018. Meanwhile, the closed presentation of this drone took place a few months earlier. The novelty was placed in the exposition of Russian weapons, which was presented at the final board of the Ministry of Defense for 2017. At the same time, the "Corsair" was personally examined by Vladimir Putin.
At the exhibition, the new drone was demonstrated with radio intelligence systems, as well as promising light aircraft weapons. But most importantly, a special hanging container with a radar station inside was presented.
Along with RTR and radar, as well as light bombs and missiles "Le Corsaire" will be a critical element of the system for the fire brigades and divisions, and field armies. Thanks to the long flight range (claimed from 200 km). He will be able to operate in the tactical rear of the enemy, identifying control points, artillery positions, etc. In local conflicts, the "Corsair" can be used to track the radio exchange of militants, control the routes of movement and defeat individual buildings and cars.
Heavy Squad
Currently, information has already appeared about how the Ministry of Defense plans to organize air units of long-range heavy drones. It is assumed that they will be formed on the basis of aviation units, in particular, individual reconnaissance aircraft squadrons.
So, the chief of unmanned aviation of the Western military district Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Smirnov in 2019, said that "it is planned to deploy the generated squad UAV based air reconnaissance division Association air force and air defense of the Western military district". Most likely, Smirnov was talking about a squadron of Su-24MR scouts, which are based at the Shatalov airfield.
The aviation detachment (AO) is a rather vague formulation, and it is difficult to say how its structure will be organized. But it can be assumed that it will include several squadrons, each armed with its own type of long-range drones – "Outpost" and "Orion". It is possible that in the future, some squadrons of unmanned detachments will be re-formed into regiments. The units and divisions of the JSC UAV will most likely be based at different airfields. Also, with a high degree of confidence, it can be argued that such unmanned formations will become part of all air armies.
"Orion" – "Altius" - next everywhere
The Russian military department received the first batch of several Orion unmanned systems. Each includes a control room and three aircraft.
Work on the" Orion " started in the early 2010s. But the tests and all the work necessary for adoption were completed only last year. As stated by the general designer of the Kronstadt group, Nikolai Dolzhenkov, only in April 2020, the Russian military department approved the necessary documents.
At the same time, Orion has already been included several times in various reports, as well as graphic documents of the Russian military department on the operation in Syria. In particular, the novelty was shown in the diagram of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Syrian operation, which illustrated the report of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Analysis of the already published data shows that the Orions will perform tasks similar to those of the Turkish Bayraktar. In addition to conducting reconnaissance at a depth of several hundred kilometers and targeting artillery, aircraft and missiles, the drone will destroy targets. Orion will also be able to provide direct support to troops on the battlefield.
It is noteworthy that initially in the reports about the possible creation of the JSC UAVs, the Altius drones were mentioned as the main drones for their formation. But at present, we can safely say that the squadrons of these machines are unlikely to join the composition of unmanned aircraft detachments. Numerous delays, as well as a change of developers, seriously slowed down the program of construction and testing of this heavy UAV.
Meanwhile, the "Altius" is clearly interested in the Russian Navy. The network published photos of the latest UAV model with the St. Andrew's flag applied on board.
The main advantages of the Altius are its unique range and flight time. The drone can spend more than 48 hours in the air and at the same time cover a distance of up to 10 thousand km. Therefore, the record-breaking drone will be an excellent marine scout, which will act in the interests of ship groups, naval aviation, as well as underwater forces. The Altius ' payload capacity also allows it to take on board full-fledged guided weapons, in particular the X-35U anti-ship missiles.
It can be assumed that at least one squadron of "Altius" will be part of each marine unmanned aviation regiment. Also, one or two squadrons of ultra-long-range drones can be part of each aviation squadron of drones of the Aerospace Forces.
Currently, the most high-tech unmanned aerial vehicle in the arsenal of the Russian Aerospace Forces is considered to be the S-70 "Hunter". Although this UAV has not yet completed a full test program, it is already possible to assume what tasks these machines will solve. Most likely, they will conduct surveillance or carry out "surgical" strikes on strategically important objects in the rear of the likely enemy. Thanks to the use of stealh technology in the design of the drone, as well as the ability to place the most modern radar and radio equipment on board, the Hunter will be able to pass the barriers of high-tech air defense systems, radar and combat aircraft.
It can be assumed that one or two squadrons of C-70 will be part of each AO UAV. At the same time, an important element of the Hunter program is the interaction of these drones with Su-57 fighters. It seems that the three air regiments of Russian fifth-generation fighters will include a squadron of S-70.
This solution will simplify the maintenance and operation of the latest UAVs, as many of the Hunter and Su-57 units are unified. Also, fighter pilots will constantly work out interaction with the latest drones. The Su-57–S-70 bundle can be actively used during combat training with other types and branches of the Armed Forces. H
Alexey Ramm
Alexey Mikhailovich Ramm – military expert.
