Promising samples of weapons show that, technically, the Russian army is at the forefront
While once fraternal countries, to the detriment of their own interests, reviling everything that reminds of a great neighbor, admire Turkish "Bayraktars", Russian engineering thought is constantly progressing, and the domestic military-industrial complex does not cease to delight with novelties in the field of weapons, military and special equipment. Unique "matryoshka" drones are an event that speaks about the leadership of the Russian Federation in the development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles for military purposes.
Bayraktar - cheap, but not angry
It should be noted that, in general, the Bayraktar TB2 Turkish operational and tactical strike drone, which has been elevated by a number of European limitrophs to the status of a super weapon, is not bad in terms of its technical and operational characteristics, is just a strong average of the world UAV rating. Propagandists of the "most powerful army in Europe", which is armed with a couple of dozen "Bayraktars" and is going to take a "combat walk" to Vladivostok and back with their help, should be reminded of several facts that form the real combat value of the Turkish drone.
The key reason for its far from the highest popularity in the world is the elementary cheapness. This explains the interesting fact that testifies to the adoption of these UAVs by only three (except Turkish) armies of the world: Qatar, Azerbaijan and, of course, Ukraine. Fanatical fans of Bayraktar, apparently, are not confused by the absence of rich countries like the United States and the flagships of the EU in this list. But the logic of their thinking, as we know, is poorly understood.
The second circumstance that makes the halo of the Turkish strike drone fade is a very impressive list of losses. In just two years (2018-2020), during which the Bayraktars actively participated in armed conflicts and local wars, 54 UAVs were irretrievably lost, the total cost of which was about 270 million dollars.
But let's return to the main topic - promising, advanced and breakthrough drones "Thunder" and "Lightning" from the Kronstadt group of companies.
Private company of the Russian "defense industry"
""Thunder" releases a swarm of mini-drones "Lightning", whose combat mission is to attack and destroy the air defense system of the facility, and manages them in automated mode"
The political and military leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly been reproached for maintaining the state affiliation of enterprises of the military-industrial complex. In order not to dwell on the absurdity of such accusations, it is enough to recall the "stunning" results of the private military-industrial complex of the collective West: the "golden mortar iron" Zumwalt, the most expensive "mistake of nature" in the history of American weapons – the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter or the permanently failing aircraft carriers of Great Britain.
In addition, the statements of such critics are questionable, since they are based on unverified information, which is unacceptable in the expert community. And as a confirmation of these words and a vivid example of the participation of Russian private business in the creation of promising weapons models, we can name Kronstadt.
The company takes an active part in the process of technical modernization and re-equipment of enterprises of the Russian Federation, providing the supply of high-quality technological equipment of leading European and world brands. The key activity of the company, in which it occupies a leading position– is the design, development and subsequent production of high-tech unmanned air complexes, navigation and ground control systems.
An example of such products, first of all, should be considered the jet unmanned aerial vehicle "Thunder", which became one of the premieres of the VI International military-technical forum "ARMY-2020". He is assigned the role of a key competitor to the supersonic heavy UAV S-70 "Hunter", developed by PJSC "Sukhoi Company".
But this is not the only feature of "Thunder", which provided him with increased attention of guests and forum participants. This drone is capable of carrying X-38 guided tactical missiles (air-to-surface class) and KAB-250 guided aviation ammunition (KAB-500). This is one of the components of the "battle matryoshka".
The second component is ten multi-profile mini-drones "Lightning" (shock, reconnaissance, kamikaze drones), the delivery and management of which is entrusted to the "Thunder", endowed with artificial intelligence and acting in conjunction with the crew of the fifth-generation multifunctional fighter Su-57 or multi-purpose supermaneuverable fighter Su-35.
In reality, it should look like this. The Thunder UAV, following at a distance of several hundred kilometers ahead of the main aviation group consisting of manned aircraft, provokes the enemy's air defense systems to open fire and unmask positions. Having achieved its goal, "Thunder" releases a swarm of mini-drones "Lightning", whose combat mission is to attack and destroy the air defense system of the object selected for the attack, and manages them in automated mode. Next comes the turn of the main aviation group, which includes, for example, supersonic Su-34 fighter-bombers under the cover of the Su-35 or Su-57, which simultaneously perform the role of a "staff car". In addition, both the Thunder UAV and its colleague S-70 Hunter can take part in the further strike.
And this is not the only task that the Russian state had to solve in accordance with the challenges dictated by modern realities. He was accused of everything. Listing the grave, from the point of view of the collective West, the sins of Russia would take a lot of time and effort. But we will still remember one of the accusations against our country. According to SIPRI, the burden on the national budget of the Russian Federation caused by military spending has become one of the highest on the European continent. We will not discuss now how the conclusions of the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research are justified and correspond to reality. Even if this is the case, today there is a tendency to reduce this burden due to the increasing share of Russian business in financing programs to create promising weapons and not only.
Each fighter – a drone
The Kronstadt company has begun the development of miniature unmanned aerial vehicles capable of becoming an element of solving combat tasks as part of the equipment of the soldier of the future. This was announced by Pavel Rozhkov, chief designer of special projects of the company "CT-Unmanned Systems", which is a subsidiary of the Kronstadt Group of Companies.
"Serious work is currently underway to design new types of medium- and small-sized drones, as well as to create ground control and data processing points. In addition, we are working on the implementation of a project that provides for the creation of our own ground and on-board equipment: control controllers, autopilot, artificial intelligence systems, specialized target loads that can be used both on board the UAV and in control points on the ground," Rozhkov said.
According to him, the first public presentation of the microdron sample, held at the ARMY 2020 forum, aroused the highest professional interest from the law enforcement agencies and structures of the Russian Federation. "Especially for this forum, we designed and manufactured a nano-drone, the weight of which was only 180 grams. Its purpose is to solve a complex of specialized combat tasks, including as part of the equipment of the soldier of the future," said the representative of the Kronstadt Group of companies.
According to Rozhkov, nano- and micro-drones have been successfully tested on a specially created "obstacle course" and have confirmed the ability to see the environment and accurately determine the location of people and objects both in manual and semi-automatic mode. This potential is especially relevant during search and rescue operations, monitoring of closed and complex objects. In addition, miniature drones can be used to protect strategic military, administrative and infrastructure facilities where violation of protected airspace is unacceptable.
Vitaly the Viscount
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 10 (923) for March 22, 2022
