Complexes of reconnaissance drones and cycloplane platforms may appear on Russian warships. This was announced on Friday, August 27, by the head of the project group of air assets of the Foundation for Advanced Research, Yan Chibisov.
According to him, the existing helicopter equipment in terms of time and flight range no longer meets modern requirements, since it has a flight radius of 200 km, and the flight duration is only three hours. Therefore, Chibisov explained, the Navy command has formulated a technical task for a promising system.
In turn, the Foundation for Advanced Research has proposed a complex of two devices, where the first is a cyclolet, which provides the ascent and descent of a reconnaissance drone to the ship, and the second is the drone itself of a long flight duration. As the latter, it was proposed to use solutions based on airfield aviation, such as a heavier modification of the Orion drone with a flight duration of 24 hours.
"The platform lifts an airplane-type drone into the air, provides access to the desired speed and launch angle, as if it takes off from an airfield. That is, it completely replaces the runway, becoming an air airfield. <...> On landing, the same platform catches up with the drone, flies up and picks it up itself, " RIA Novosti quotes Chibisov.
He also added that all operations will be carried out automatically without the participation of an operator.
Work on the Cyclone-2 project will start at the end of 2021 and will last 3.5-4 years.
Earlier, on August 24, the Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with the Ural Design Bureau of Transport Engineering for the supply of a prototype of the heavy assault robotic complex "Sturm". The contract was signed during the international military-technical forum "Army-2021". The event takes place from 22 to 28 August.