Unmanned aircraft determines the course of hostilities in Ukraine
Attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to actively use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming a serious threat to Russia and its army. Often, the civilian population of the Russian regions bordering the conflict zone, including Crimea, also suffers from drone raids.
Increasingly, reconnaissance UAVs operating in the zone of a special military operation (SVO) turn out to be of their own Ukrainian production.
Now the main goal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is to destroy ammunition depots of the Russian Army, anti–aircraft missile systems (SAMs) and the rear routes along which the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are supplied in the special operation zone. The fulfillment of this task is assigned by the Ukrainian command mainly to UAVs.
Barrage AMMUNITION
Senior researcher of the Chemical Faculty of the Ukrainian Kyiv National Aviation University and the head of the student rocket design bureau NAURocket created at the University, Sergey Pipko, published a video of a test launch developed with the participation of the Bureau of the Ukrainian barrage ammunition (BB). The video has already been widely distributed on the Runet.
Externally, the device looks like an imitation of the famous Iranian BB Arash-2. It is made on the basis of the RZ-60 unmanned target developed several years ago by the Ukrainian PJSC Ramzai (Kiev). This target successfully passed flight tests and was tested by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in 2019. But there is no reliable information about its mass production.
The target RZ-60 has a length of 1.5 m and is equipped with a piston engine with a tail pusher propeller, its cruising speed is stated at 300 km/h. The RZ-60 is launched from a pneumatic ejection unit. But, judging by the video, the BB tested now is equipped with a solid-fuel launch accelerator, which allows it to be launched from a short guide ramp.
In the video, the launcher (it looks like with two guides) of the barrage ammunition is placed in the awning body of the Gazelle light truck (recall that similar improvised launchers disguised as Gazelle awning trucks are used by the APU to use MBDA Brimstone guided missiles received from the UK for ground launch). It is also seen that the BB has an increased length of the nose compared to the RZ-60, where, apparently, the warhead is located. And also, most likely, an additional fuel tank – which gives the total length of the device more than 2 m.
The range of the ammunition, apparently, can be several hundred kilometers. The control system is unclear – but if a communication system based on the Starlink terminal is used on the device, it will allow you to implement any control range.
In a cheaper version, as can be assumed, pure GPS / GLONASS guidance will be carried out – similar to the Russian devices of the Geranium series. That, however, will make it possible to hit only stationary targets with previously known coordinates.
Apparently, the lack of forces and means forced the leadership of Ukraine to look for a way to optimize the existing resources transferred by the West and introduce the experience gained into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the moment, the Ukrainian authorities are actively developing their unmanned fleet, expanding the range of unmanned aerial vehicles and barrage ammunition produced and used during combat operations. In various departments, the presence of even the simplest copters becomes mandatory. In addition, on February 7, 2023, the Ukrainian parliament voted to abolish VAT and duties on the import of drones into the country by the end of the year.
Recall that the AFU has already accumulated some experience in the combat use of Ukrainian (former Soviet) reusable tactical UAV Tu-141 "Strizh", capable of carrying a hundred-kilogram aviation bomb. Such devices were launched presumably from the territory of the Sumy region and covered about 300 km over Russian territory in the direction of Moscow, after which they were hit by Russian air defense. The Tu-141 Strizh drones had 150 km to fly to the capital of Russia.
Earlier, on March 10, 2022, an officially unidentified, but definitely belonging to Ukraine, Soviet-made Tu-141 "Strizh" reconnaissance UAV flew through Hungarian airspace and crashed in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. There were no casualties, but material damage was recorded: several parked cars were damaged. The Croatian President said that "in such situations you depend on NATO," but "there seems to have been some kind of failure in NATO."
Attempts to blame Russia did not have much resonance. In the end, they preferred to hush up the incident.
KIEV DRONES
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, with the assistance of the presidential project "Army of Drones", are actively working on the creation of separate companies of shock UAVs, writes the Telegram channel "Rybar".
One such unit will include three platoons of shock and one platoon of reconnaissance UAVs, as well as a logistics support department (MTO). The number of each unit is up to 110 people. The company is armed with up to 12 strike UAVs of the Inquisitor, I-Bosch, Dovbush-T10 type and up to five reconnaissance ones – Shark and Elf. The drones themselves will be equipped with a control system via Starlink satellite terminals.
Starlink terminals were reliably used to control well–known marine drones - semi-submerged exploding boats, with which the Ukrainian side repeatedly tried to attack ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the fall of 2022.
In addition, Starlink terminals are used with a high degree of probability in UAVs and BB developed in Ukraine.
The use of broadband Starlink services and the like opens up an era of mass use of all kinds of unmanned and unmanned vehicles (including shock) with virtually unlimited range in the control system. As well as the possibility of installing such terminals for unlimited communication and control on almost all military vehicles.
The introduction of the Starlink control module into the "stuffing" of the drone makes Ukrainian drones protected from radio interference and allows them to be controlled (if there is a stable connection) at a great distance, without worrying about possible interception or disabling.
Additionally, depending on the tasks performed, Ukrainian UAV companies can be equipped with Switchblade, Phoenix Ghost, Sky Mantis, Vector, Warmate, RQ-20 Puma kamikaze drones. They are also armed with up to ten cross-country vehicles for mobility purposes.
The training of UAV operators for actions on the front line will take place on the basis of 12 main training centers, primarily in Kiev.
The effectiveness of the newly created UAV companies remains in question. However, even a small part of the transferred or purchased drones, with proper use at the front, will seriously expand the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to use both artillery and assault groups during the offensive.
BOMBS FOR DRONES
The Ukrainian defense plant "Mayak" has started producing new fragmentation aviation ammunition for UAVs, the RBC news channel reported with reference to the Ukrainian Internet resource "Страна.иа ".
Aviation ammunition for the UAV (unmanned fragmentation aircraft complex) OBP-23.1 weighs 1 kg.
The radius of the guaranteed damage zone is 11 m. The OBP-23.05 variant weighs 0.5 kg, respectively. The radius of the guaranteed damage zone is 4.5 m, the publication says.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the Ukroboronprom concern, together with one of the NATO countries, has established the production of 122 mm shells abroad. The first batch of ammunition has already been received by the AFU.
HEAVENLY GUEST FROM PERU
The Peruvian company Disenos Casanave has sold an unmanned aircraft complex of its own design CW-40D to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to Jane's Defense Weekly with reference to the company's information, the sale of the first batch was made in January 2023. Disenos Casanave refused to disclose the number of drones sold and their cost. The cost of one CW-40D is estimated at 155 thousand dollars.
According to the manufacturer, the CW-40D was designed to perform information gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks. It is an unmanned aerial vehicle of an airplane type with the possibility of vertical takeoff and landing (GDP). The UAV is equipped with a hybrid power plant with electric and gasoline engines. On the beams attached to the lower part of the wings, connected to the reverse V-shaped tail, four electric motors with rotors are placed, providing vertical takeoff and landing.
The device is equipped with a stabilized MG170E electron-optical surveillance unit with a day camera with a resolution of 1080 pixels with 30x image scaling and an infrared camera with a resolution of 640x512 pixels, a laser rangefinder (the measured range is 50-4000 m).
RUSSIAN ACHIEVEMENTS
In this situation, of course, special attention should be paid to the production of domestic drones – and this is already being done. The Government of the Russian Federation should fully implement the national project for the development of unmanned aircraft systems in the near future. The purpose of this national project is to provide opportunities for the widespread operation of drones and a high level of localization of their production.
According to the representatives of the emerging unmanned industry themselves, its independent development will require the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
The personnel problem may well become a bottleneck, as it has already become for conventional aviation. The industry always needs new personnel, especially talented ones, and they are always in demand on the market. However, even with a certain lack of them, enterprises can effectively perform their tasks.
In the special operation zone, unmanned vehicles may be used in the near future to deliver ammunition and humanitarian supplies, as well as evacuate the wounded.
Currently, work is underway to finalize and "provide" high–traffic trucks in the interests of the Russian military - and, perhaps, soon we will see them in action.
The tasks here are much more complicated, since there is no navigation and communication infrastructure to ensure continuous monitoring of the condition and route of movement of vehicles.
Russia has already developed a transport drone of the TrUMP aircraft type (a multifunctional transport aviation platform) capable of transporting up to 250 kg of cargo over a range of over 600 km.
Certain successes have also been achieved in the anti-drone protection of drone operators on the ground. For example, a prototype of an anti-fragmentation individual ballistic shield-cape for attack aircraft and UAV operators working directly on the front line was successfully tested in Donetsk. At a distance of 1.5 m to 70 cm from the shield-cape, two F-1 grenades and one VOG-17 grenade were detonated. The penetration of the prototype was recorded only along the edge of the product and amounted to an insignificant percentage of the total number of fragments and damaging elements characteristic of the ammunition used.
Ballistic tests of the anti-shatter shield-cape have shown a sufficiently high degree of protection provided by the product. The military acceptance was successful, the first batch has already gone into operation and will be delivered to the troops in the near future.
Vasily Ivanov
Vasily Ivanovich Ivanov is a journalist.