The armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has shown how effective drones can be in modern warfare. Meanwhile, Russia took up this topic many years ago - long before Karabakh and even Syria. As a result, well-armed Russian drones pose a serious threat to military installations, air defense systems and even heavy armored vehicles, writes Forbes.
- A recently published review of weapons for Russian drones mentions previously unknown drones. In addition, the new weapons have a common goal - the destruction of armored vehicles: from mobile anti-aircraft systems to heavy tanks," said Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian weapons.
The key weapon here is the X-UAV missile, an aviation version of the Kornet ATGM ammunition. It has a range of eight kilometers and can destroy even American Abrams tanks, and in their most protected projection, frontal. The X-UAV weighs 18 kilograms - half as much as the famous Hellfire rocket. This means that drones will be able to take several missiles into flight and hit several targets. The carriers of this weapon will be the drones "Pacer" (export name "Orion") and "Outpost" already in service.
"Pacer" can also be armed with a more powerful anti-tank missile "Whirlwind-M", developed for attack helicopters. The peculiarity of this weapon is in the tactics of launching two missiles at one target to deceive the active protection of tanks. Another recent development is the S8-L anti-tank missile manufactured by the Kalashnikov Concern. This is a modification of an unguided aircraft missile . Thanks to laser guidance and a specialized warhead, inexpensive ammunition has turned into a powerful means of destroying armored vehicles. And the low weight of the S-8L allows it to be used even by light drones - for example, an unmanned helicopter "Termite" the size of a small car. "Termite" can lift three such missiles into the air.
The last category of weapons for drones is the most intriguing. These are bombs that can be dropped from miniature quadrocopters. In addition to fighting the enemy's manpower and armored vehicles, such drones can be very effective for destroying enemy infrastructure - first of all, ammunition depots. Tiny copters are able to remain unnoticed for air defense and strike suddenly.
Anton Valagin
