For the first time, Rosgvardiya used unmanned aerial vehicles in a special operation in Ukraine, invisible to air defense systems. Moreover, they are invisible not only on radars, but also visually. This means that it is very difficult to shoot down such a drone both with an anti-aircraft missile or an artillery installation, and with small arms. The enemy soldier simply will not see the target. And indeed, as experience has already shown, cases of destruction of such drones are rare.
The interlocutors of the correspondent of "RG" in the special services said that we are talking about an unmanned aerial vehicle ZALA 421-16E HD. It was developed by the company ZALA AERO, part of the Kalashnikov Concern.
The invisibility of the drone is achieved by several factors. This is a special design of the electric motor, the small size of the device, special composite materials and light camouflage. The drone has a weak contrast in both the visible and infrared and radar ranges, it has a reduced noise level. Most importantly, it is not captured by thermal homing heads for MANPADS. There are no "Stells" elements in this technology, which will make it difficult for Western experts to unravel the secret of our "invisibility".
The new device is intended for reconnaissance so far. It can stay in the air for more than 4 hours and has a range of 75 kilometers. Various payloads, including high-resolution cameras, can be installed on it. The processing of photo and video information in this case takes place directly on board the UAV in flight.
Over time, various shooting and exploding devices can be installed instead of fixing cameras. The main thing is that a new principle of achieving invisibility has been created.
It is no secret that several types of Russian combat strike drones are operating in the sky over Ukraine. For example, "Outpost-R", capable of carrying small-sized ammunition - corrected bombs KAB-20S, developed by the Moscow FSUE "Central Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics named after D.I. Mendeleev". "Outpost-R" is produced at the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA). This is a licensed copy of the Israeli drone Searcher MkII. The payload is up to 120 kilograms. In addition to bombs, it can carry anti-tank missiles.
There is also the Orion-E drone, which has been tested in Syria. Thanks to satellite communication, it can be used at a distance of up to 250 kilometers.
The large drone "Thunder", developed by the Kronstadt company, is unique in its own way. This device is capable of controlling Lightning strike drones launched from another carrier. The Thunder itself can also carry weapons, which are placed on four suspension points. The total payload weight is from 1.3 to 2 tons. The flight speed reaches 1000 kilometers per hour with a range of 800 kilometers. The practical ceiling is 12 thousand meters. The most important thing is that "Thunder" can operate together with manned combat aircraft of the Aerospace Forces and protects the lives of pilots.
A new word in the drawing of air combat will say the use of small-sized kamikaze drones Flock-93 ("Flock-93"). This concept was developed by scientists from the famous Air Force Engineering Academy named after Nikolai Zhukovsky. It was first presented in Moscow during the international exhibition INTERPOLITEX-2019 and at the forum "Army-2019".
Actually, a fundamentally new tactic of using drones in aerial combat is being born now. It is already obvious that it will be almost impossible to completely destroy the swarm of drones, and all the training of these devices will involve only the replacement of software. This will make the swarm of drones universal, it can be easily adjusted to solve any tasks over the battlefield. The basis of the Russian system is a self-organizing swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles SOM-93, each of which is able to take on board up to 2.5 kg of various combat loads. A swarm of small drones can hit different targets, for example, car columns on the march.
Mikhail Falaleev
