The device is designed to work as a wingman in an advanced attacking echelon in cooperation with manned aviation Moscow, August 23.
/tass/. The Kronstadt company has started work on a state contract for the development of a draft design of a multi-purpose high-speed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) "Thunder", first presented in 2020. This was reported to TASS in the press service of the enterprise at the last forum "Army-2022".
"We already have concluded state contracts for the development of a draft design, we are working in this direction," the press service said in response to a question about the stage at which work on the Thunder UAV is at.
"Thunder" was first shown at the Army 2020 forum, it is designed to work as a wingman in the advanced attacking echelon in cooperation with manned aircraft. The robot is capable of provoking military and object air defense complexes, and after they begin to actively search for it, destroy them with their strike means. It can also fight surface ships and coastal infrastructure facilities. In one of the variants, it will be capable of carrying X-38 guided missiles of the air-to-surface class.
Also, the Thunder UAV is one system with reusable high-speed group-use drones "Lightning", it is able to control a swarm of 10 such devices. At the same time, as noted in the company, the "Lightning" will "communicate" with each other and with the carrier drone. It is possible to change tasks for each member of the "pack", transfer leadership roles, interchangeability and execution of tasks by a group without constant communication with the carrier aircraft - thanks to artificial intelligence.
Kronstadt JSC is a full production cycle enterprise for the creation of drones from their design to testing and certification. Since its establishment in 1991, the company (formerly known as CJSC Transas) has specialized in the development of airborne, land and sea systems, military equipment simulators and interactive complexes. The company has developed the Orion-E UAV, Sirius and a number of other devices.
The International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2022" was held from August 15 to 21 at the Patriot Exhibition Center. The event was organized by the Russian Defense Ministry.
