Unmanned vehicles are becoming the main weapon of naval operations
Ukrainian sailors sank their flagship frigate "Hetman Sagaidachny" without even trying to use it in battle. Photo of the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Government of Ukraine
The Ukrainian crisis has become an example of the mass use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), not only over land, but also over the sea. For the first time in the history of armed conflicts, drone drones claim a major role in naval operations. The battle for Snake Island in May-June was accompanied by a large number of sorties of the Bayraktar TB2 type UAVs in service with the naval aviation of the UVMS. This type has shown higher efficiency than all other types of naval weapons in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The truth is that the Ukrainian admirals did not even try to use warships on the Black Sea. Instead, they scuttled the flagship frigate "Hetman Sagaidachny" at the pier in the port of Nikolaev shortly after the start of the SVO. According to statistics, the Russian military shot down almost 1,600 UAVs of the Ukrainian army during a special operation. At least 30 of them are Bayraktar TB2.
How this scheme works was perfectly shown by the May attempt to land special forces on the island of the Snake. It ended in failure, accompanied by the sinking of three amphibious assault boats of the Centaur type, the fire damage of several Mi-8/Mi-14 helicopters and Su-24/27 aircraft. At the same time, there was no "one-goal game". While fighting with the enemy's landing force, the Russian special forces defending the island lost several of their comrades killed (the authorities of the hero city of Sevastopol subsequently reported about the funeral). On the Snake, air defense systems, boats were disabled, warehouses burned down, buildings were destroyed. This is partly the result of the use by the Ukrainian military of guided munitions MAM-L and MAM-C, launched with Bayraktar TB2. Several Ukrainian UAVs were shot down by return fire from the island and ships of the Black Sea Fleet (including the frigate Admiral Essen, etc.). In addition to the Navy, almost all the bayraktars delivered before February 2022 were also lost by the Ukrainian Army units – in total, several dozen units. However, Kiev declared the actions of BTB2 successful and ordered another batch in Turkey to compensate for the losses incurred.
Persian Division
It is possible that the events around the Snake prompted the Supreme Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) to form the First Division of the carrier ships of unmanned aerial vehicles – part of the Naval Forces of the country. The new compound is included in the grouping operating from bases on the coast of the Indian Ocean. The decision became known on July 15, when local television showed footage of the next exercises of Iranian sailors. During the maneuvers, numerous launches of UAVs of the type "Ababil", "Carrar" and "Arash" were carried out from the side of the tank landing ship "Lavan" and the auxiliary vessel "Delvar". A Russian-built submarine of the 877EKM project and several smaller submarines of local origin also took part in the exercises. In the surface position, they launched highly technological UAV "Pelican" vertical takeoff and landing. The novelty stands out with an original aerodynamic scheme: a fairly large wing, a pushing propeller and four carriers. The newly formed compound of the Iranian Navy is designed to strike the enemy with armed UAVs and barrage ammunition, as well as conducting reconnaissance and surveillance. Commenting on the event, the Iranian military leaders noted that the number of tasks solved by UAVs is growing along with their importance for national defense.
"Reconnaissance drones are increasing our information gathering capabilities, and through carrier ships we are observing the situation hundreds of kilometers from the state border line," said General Abdulrahim Mousavi, representing the army command at the exercises. "Attack UAVs and kamikaze drones allow the Islamic Republic to gain an advantage when operating in international waters and thereby effectively pursue a policy of deterring the aggressor."
The commander of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, added that the formation of a new unit will allow the fleet to gain operational and air advantage in the ocean expanses and at the same time increase the ability to conduct reconnaissance at a great distance from surface and submarine carrier ships.
Drone ships
Division of carrier ships of unmanned aerial vehicles… Here we would like one! The Black Sea Fleet has nothing like this, and such a connection would be very useful for conducting the naval part of a special operation. It remains to wait for the completion of the construction of the universal landing ships (UDC) "Ivan Rogov" and "Mitrofan Moskalenko", laid down a couple of years ago at the Gulf plant in Kerch. They are being built according to the 23900 project, have a large hangar and a solid flight deck for take-off and landing of helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. The UDC aviation group may include Hunter-type attack UAVs with a take-off weight of about 20 tons. Tests of the first prototype have been going on for several years. In December 2021, the first flight was made by an improved version with a flat nozzle. A wing with a span of 20 m creates a large lifting force, and a power plant with a deflected vector provides sufficient thrust. This allows the Hunter to take off and land from the flight deck of a 220 m long ship.
According to the design of the UDC project 23900 resembles the amphibious dock ship Anadolu being completed afloat. Soon Turkey will launch the second hull – the Trakia. They represent the development of the Spanish Juan Carlos I, with the replacement of the precise navigation radar system for landing aircraft with the Italian SPN-720, and the combat information and control system with the development of the local company Aselsan.
The Russian UDC is ten meters shorter than the Turkish one, but somewhat wider (on the flight deck – 38 m). The total displacement is about 40 thousand tons against 27 thousand, the maximum travel speeds are close (21-23 knots). Anadolu's hangar and arsenal facilities are designed for 12 F-35C shortened takeoff fighters or the same number of marine helicopters. Since the United States refused previously agreed deliveries of F-35s of all modifications due to Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, a different composition of the air group is currently being considered.
Taking into account the large size of the solid flight deck (length 231 m, width 32 m) and the presence of a bow springboard, the company "Baykar" came out with a proposal to develop an unmanned vehicle based on the serial "Bayraktar" for Anadolu. Last year, work began on the deck version of the BTB3. It is distinguished by a folding wing, since its span is 12 m (compared to 13 for the F–35C) - it creates difficulties when storing and moving around the ship. Other improvements are also promised, including an increase in the payload mass to 280 kg while maintaining the flight duration of 24 hours. Since the take-off weight of the device (650 kg for BTB2) will increase, it will be necessary to replace the 100-horsepower motor with a more powerful one.
Despite the improvements, the Bayraktar remains approximately on the same technical level with the Russian Orion UAV and the Iranian Mohajer-6, equipped with the same Rotah engine of the 912/914 variant or its local counterpart. All three carry the maximum combat load of four anti-tank missiles under the wing (and Orion can also take the OFAB–100-120 bomb to the central node). Of these three, the Mohajer-6 is the most compact (weight 600 kg, wingspan 10 m), and therefore less vulnerable over the battlefield. At a distance of 3-4 km (which is less than the effective firing range of an anti-tank missile with laser guidance), such a drone is not visible or audible.
The Persians make extensive use of engineering and technological solutions obtained from the Americans. However, not directly, but by studying the captured samples of RQ-170, Hermes-450 and ScanIgl. The latter was developed by Boeing specifically for the US Navy. When flying such a drone near the border, the Persians intercepted its control and landed it on a controlled territory. According to the "ScanIgl" technique, it is a very advanced device (flight altitude up to 16 km, duration over 20 hours). In a slightly reduced form (weight 18 kg, wingspan 3 m), the Persians launched it into production under the designation "Yasir". The serial sample of the drone they assembled was presented by the hospitable hosts to General Viktor Bondarev, who visited Tehran when he was the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Fight Supplement
The news of the formation of a new Iranian Navy unit came three days after the sensational statement of the US President's national Security adviser Jake Sullivan. "The United States has information that indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as early as July," he said at a briefing for journalists. "Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including those capable of carrying weapons of destruction, in an accelerated manner."
If Washington's forecast is confirmed, then the fleet of domestic unmanned aircraft will receive a much-needed replenishment now. "Russia has its own arsenal of UAVs, but it is weakened by combat losses and wear and tear. Therefore, the Russians are considering options for how to solve the issue at the expense of the rich Iranian experience," Samuel Bendett, an expert at the CNA analytical agency, comments.
According to the characteristics, the domestic Orlan-10 produced by a large series is not inferior to the Yasir, the only question is in quantity. And it, according to the reports of military commanders, is clearly not enough to meet the combined needs of the Russian army and the people's militia of the LDPR. Therefore, the Donbass militia is forced to use less technically advanced Chinese quadrocopters from the commercial market. Exactly the same are actively used by the Ukrainian military. According to estimates of local experts, the total number of drones in the arsenals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of the year was 6 thousand units, mainly from the commercial market. Chinese civilian products attract low cost. Specially designed devices for the army, such as the Fury, manufactured by the Athlon Avia plant, cost an order of magnitude more expensive – 25 thousand dollars apiece. According to the director of the enterprise, about 70% of the 200 devices of this type purchased by the APU since 2014 have already been shot down.
In addition to fire damage, Russian troops are actively engaged in electronic warfare. The applied technical means make it possible to detect an enemy UAV, intercept or disrupt its control, deceive the on-board navigation system by distorting the GPS satellite grouping signal. According to a recent study by the British agency RUSI, the average life expectancy of a Ukrainian drone on the front line does not exceed a week.
The "Drone Army" initiative announced in Ukraine to collect donations from the population for the purchase of 200 new UAVs is designed to make up for the losses. Meanwhile, the needs of the APU are estimated at 2 thousand units. The President of Ukraine asks the West for a thousand drones made according to NATO standards. Vladimir Zelensky concretizes: we need UAVs capable of functioning stably in conditions of electronic suppression, and the devices purchased on the civilian market are easy prey for enemy air defense and electronic warfare.
The use of unprotected communication channels leads to the fact that the Russian military sets the coordinates of the place from where the UAV is controlled, and after a couple of minutes they fire from cannons or multiple rocket launchers. Western journalists report from the front line about a significant increase in the effectiveness of the combat work of Russian gunners since the beginning of the SVO. "Ukrainians are on the verge," Bendett believes. In his opinion, Russian-made UAVs favorably differ from Ukrainian ones with a longer patrol time and an increased range. "The development of the topic of drone strikes by both sides led to the fact that by 2022 it became clear that this type of weapon had not just become an integral means of conducting high–intensity armed conflicts, but in fact one of the most effective," Bendett concludes.
Vladimir Karnozov
