Already at the beginning of the special operation, it became clear that unmanned aerial vehicles play a full-fledged role in it, and many Russian developers began to produce various copters, combat FPV drones (first-person view). The Oko Design Bureau, created in 2022 by IT specialists Andrey Ivanov and Vadim Zhernov, decided from the very beginning to turn society's idea of drones around. Why the Hi-82 drone shocks with its appearance and what tasks it can perform — in the TASS material
"Hello" from the Northern capital
The St. Petersburg Design Bureau is among the rare and small manufacturers of aircraft-type vehicles in Russia, and ultra-cheap and multifunctional. "We immediately had the idea to try to make something as simple and cheap as possible, which could be produced in large quantities, which interested the troops very much. At first, there were some illusions that Russian quadrocopters would appear literally in the first summer of its existence, and scout wings - in August 2022. Therefore, we undertook to do a more complex, heavy thing: a cruise missile to destroy the non-critical infrastructure of the Hi—120," says Ivanov.
According to the creators, the new cruise missile carrying a 120-millimeter mine was supposed to become something like the famous Geran strike drone, which began to be used two months after the creation of the Design Bureau and is now being successfully used by Russia in a special operation. However, soon the plans had to be revised. It turned out that Russian manufacturers are not able to saturate the front with domestic developments so quickly. Kamikaze copters began to be used en masse in the SVO zone only by the summer of 2023, it is not necessary to talk about the mass use of reconnaissance drones at all yet. "We also switched to a cheaper and more affordable Hi-82 drone for units. When we talked with the units taking part in the SVO, we noticed that the military personnel were just forming an understanding of how to use heavier vehicles. Therefore, we are doing what is clear to everyone and is required right now," emphasizes Andrey Ivanov.
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| The Hi-82 drone. |
| Source: Alexander Demyanchuk/ TASS |
The "Eye" got its name thanks to the cult epic novel by J. R.R. Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings". The logo of the design bureau has a giant fiery eye, the All-seeing Eye of Sauron, with which the dark lord can see any corner of Middle-earth. "The name of the bureau was Andrey's idea, but I fully support it. It seems to me that it reflects very well what we are doing. What KB does can be called those orcish technologies, when complex devices are made of something simple. So we try on the proud title of Orcs," says Vadim Zhernov.
Launch "on paper"
The kamikaze drone with the cheerful name "Hi-82" is the flagship product of the design bureau. The drone is designed to destroy the enemy's small but critical infrastructure. In June, its first combat use took place in the SVO zone. It also became successful: with the help of "Hello-82", a stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) was hit. The ease of use of the device is the pride of its creators. "Our standard training takes two days. At the same time, the copter pilot transfers to our drone in a couple of hours. We are very proud that the first combat use of the Hi-82 was carried out by a special forces soldier who was not a drone operator and had no special training," notes Zhernov.
When launching the drone, the author's "pick-up" technology developed by the Oko Design Bureau was used. The launch of the device was carried out from the rear 12 km from the target, and the "pick-up" was carried out by the operator who inflicted defeat. "The most revealing thing here is that the calculation that launched Hi-82 has never controlled the device. People only read the instructions," emphasizes Andrey Ivanov.
The fuselage of the drone is made of unpainted plywood. Developers have repeatedly faced the fact that the appearance of "Hello-82" leads unprepared people into confusion. "It used to happen that our devices were specially painted for the shows, because most of them were used to beautiful drones of noble gray color, like Turkish Bayraktars. People have a stupor when they see "Hi-82" made of plywood and having the appropriate color," says Vadim Zhernov.
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| Design Bureau "Oko",. |
| Source: © Alexander Demyanchuk/ TASS |
At the same time, all the drones that are sent to the SVO zone look like ordinary unpainted plywood. "Military personnel don't care about conventions," the developers say. However, the exhibition samples of "Hello-82" still have to be given a gloss with the help of paint — so as not to shock the inhabitants. "Even by the standards of the world of drones, the Oko Design Bureau is quite specific. When you come to the shows of enterprises, there are a lot of beautiful expensive minibuses with beautiful expensive drones, and usually we contrast quite strongly with the appearance of our cars, drones and ourselves," jokes Zhernov.
The name "Hello" for the line of drones of the Oko Design Bureau was chosen at a time when many drone projects with pretentious names appeared in the country. "All these names like "Archangel" didn't go well with what was really going on. And since we were making a cruise missile, something like a small "Geranium", we wanted to find an appropriate, fun and memorable name: to send "Hello" to the enemy. We wanted to get away from the topic of heavy heroic things that are associated with the cult of victory, to make the project more alive. Real people are fighting in the real world," Andrei Ivanov said.
The number "82" in the name of the drone is a reference to the 82nd mortar mine, which at that time seemed to the developers the most interesting of the ready—made ammunition. The company does not have a license to produce weapons, it cannot work in the state defense order system, drones from the Oko Design Bureau are supplied without combat parts. "Hi-82" can carry a range of RPG ammunition — from the good old "carrot" to thermobaric ammunition, which is twice as heavy. The last use occurred with the KZ-6 engineering cumulative ammunition, a similar ammunition is used in the Lancet. "The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation wants to standardize ammunition, and we, in principle, are ready to go in this direction. This is correct, because when ammunition is attached on the ground, it carries a certain danger for the calculation and the one who mounts it," Vadim Zhernov noted.
Applications from divisions
At the moment, 24 Hi-82 drones have been delivered to the SVO zone. In the near future, their number may seriously increase. Applications for drones received from Russian units number in the hundreds. "Hi-82" was tested in the Main Department of Innovative Development of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The Ministry has applications for the units to be supplied with our birds. There are several hundred such applications. At the moment, we believe that the issue of procurement is being resolved, but this is only an assumption. There is no contract, no understanding whether it will be concluded. We are regularly asked by divisions when we will send the devices, but so far they have nothing to answer," notes Zhernov.
Until recently, the cost of the drone was 110 thousand rubles, but now it has increased to 150 thousand. To a large extent, the price of the drone is tied to the dollar exchange rate, since Chinese chips and batteries are used in its production. "This is still a low price tag and, in principle, comparable to the cost of a copter. But the copter and Hi-82 are different tools for different tasks," the Oko Design Bureau notes.
According to the developers, each board of the Hi-82 is now a huge value for the units. The standard kit includes six drones, and military personnel do not want to waste them. The drone from the Oko Design Bureau is standardly used at a distance of 8-10 km from the target, while the vast majority of other copters are limited to a range of 3-5 km. According to the developers, most Russian units have not yet developed a scheme for the use of drones with a similar range and it will take time to develop it.
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| The Hi-82 drone. |
| Source: © Alexander Demyanchuk/ TASS |
"When you have only six planes and this is one of the few means of hitting a target on the other side of the Dnieper, then every drone, every application becomes a great value for you. Basically, now the units are getting acquainted with the drone, learning how to use it. There is a fairly large number of flights of our drones in the area of their own, but they are test or training. Several divisions are developing tactics for the use of Hi-82. This device is not like what they have seen before. We are something else," says Zhernov. According to the developers, another major advantage of the new kamikaze drone is the ability to overcome the means of radar warfare (EW) of the enemy.
Plans and dreams
The path of a small private enterprise in Russia is by no means paved with roses. All the activities of KB "Oko" are carried out at its own expense — with the money earned by the sale of drones. "At the moment, the main problem for us is financing," says Andrey Ivanov.
Sometimes developers are helped by complete strangers, for example, subscribers in social networks. One of them, on his own initiative, bought several very expensive video cameras for the KB and sent them by mail. "Such assistance is very important for us, because there are not enough resources for experiments to buy, sort out, try whether it will work or not," Andrei Ivanov stressed. The cameras are intended for the new development of the "Oko" — the reconnaissance modification of the "Hello-82", which has already been tested in the area of the SVO. After the completion of the video camera, the device will go into series.
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| The Hi-82 drone. |
| Source: © Alexander Demyanchuk/ TASS |
Another vivid example occurred in the winter, during field tests. "It's difficult to test: snow, a field, a car doesn't go there. For a long time we came to be tested at the same place, put the catapult on the road. One day we arrived once again and saw a cleared area for the start. Just a local tractor driver, clearing the road, took and made it convenient for us. It was very touching," says Vadim Zhernov.
At the moment, there are 10 people in the KB staff, the bureau has plans to expand production. "To grow into a large adult design bureau is our goal. If we achieve this, it will be a success in our understanding. In the future, we would like to make large UAVs, perhaps one day we will take a swing at manned aviation. At least to become something similar to "Bayraktar". But this is a dream," says Andrey Ivanov.
One of the next major tasks of the Design Bureau is to finalize the Hi-120 project. In addition, this year "Oko" will take part for the first time in the international military-technical forum "Army-2023", which will be held from August 14 to 20 in the Patriot park near Moscow. "A demonstration flight of Hi-82 will be held within the framework of the forum. A prototype of the Hi-120 cruise missile will also be shown," representatives of the bureau said.
Ekaterina Adamova
