In the current decade, Russia is ready to begin active operation of a number of drones, some of them are at the development stage, some are at the production stage. This will allow Russia to overtake the United States, China, Iran, Israel and Turkey.
This is the conclusion reached by The National Interest columnist Sebastian Roblin, who prepared an overview of the six most promising Russian drones. He notes that guided weapons allow drones to deliver high-precision strikes and act as efficiently as possible.
The first in the list is the Orion drone ("Pacer"). The launch of mass production of these devices is planned for the end of this year, export sales - for 2022. The drone is characterized by a high flight duration: 24 hours in the air with a payload of 60 kg. Specially for him, small - caliber adjustable weapons were developed- the KAB-20 and KAB-50 aerial bombs, the UPAB-50 planning aerial bomb. "Orion" was successfully tested in the combat conditions of Syria, customers abroad have already become interested in it.
The second promising device that got into the review is a heavy drone "Altius-U", capable of performing the entire range of reconnaissance tasks. It has a large wingspan - 28 meters, an optoelectronic reconnaissance station and a side radar with an active phased array antenna. The flight range of the strategic reconnaissance aircraft reaches 7 thousand kilometers. He is able to spend 48 hours in the air.
Another development - the Sirius unmanned vehicle-is the next stage of Orion. It has a larger mass and size, a higher speed and will receive new electronic equipment. It can perform combat missions within a radius of 1000 kilometers, the mass of the missile and bomb load is increased to 300 kg.
The fourth in the list is "Helios", which has a wingspan of 30 meters. It is capable of performing various reconnaissance tasks and carrying out airstrikes.
In fifth place is the high-speed unmanned drone "Thunder". It has a combat load of 2 tons and a maximum take-off weight of 7 tons. The device is capable of reaching speeds of up to 1000 km / h, the radius of combat use reaches 700 km. The drone can be armed with adjustable aerial bombs weighing up to 500 kg, as well as the FAB-50 high-explosive aerial bomb. The author of NI also points to the economic efficiency of "Thunder".
The S-70 Hunter heavy attack unmanned aerial vehicle completes the review. It is an invisible drone capable of operating in an autonomous mode. It can work in tandem with the Su-57 fighter, but if the connection is broken, the drone will continue to perform combat tasks independently. The Hunter can be put into service in 2023, now it is being tested.
Maria Volkova