"The US wants to change the rules of the game." What new drones are being developed in the world

Drone expert Fedutinov: UAVs with AI will become the main weapon in the wars of the future

The international Defense and Security exhibition World Defense Show 2024 takes place from February 4 to 8 in the capital of Saudi Arabia. Russia is presenting over 100 weapons in Riyadh. An important place at the exhibition is occupied by unmanned aerial vehicles and means of combating them. What weapons will make it possible to win the "wars of the future", what promising developments in the field of UAVs are being conducted in the world and whether Russia is lagging behind in this area - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.

Combat and transport aircraft, armored vehicles, drones, precision ammunition, small arms and other developments of the domestic defense industry are presented at the Russian stands of the World Defense Show.

Compared to the World Defense Show 2022, the scale of the Russian exposition has doubled. In Riyadh, there is a high interest in Russian weapons and military equipment, which have proven their high tactical and technical characteristics in combat and have shown tangible superiority over competitors' products.

"Today, leading military analysts see the main reasons for the change in the forms and methods of using the armed forces in modern military conflicts in the appearance on the battlefields of a large number of unmanned systems that solve a wide range of tasks.

- I told the Newspaper.En" Denis Fedutinov, editor-in-chief of the Unmanned Aviation magazine.

Russia presented in Riyadh both unmanned aerial vehicles and means of combating them.

As for anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes, models of medium-range air defense combat vehicles from the S-350E Vityaz anti-aircraft missile system and the Viking anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) are being demonstrated in the capital of Saudi Arabia.

Short-range air defense systems are represented by models of combat vehicles of the Tor SAM family (Tor-E2, Tor-M2K, Tor-M2KM) in stationary and mobile versions, that is, both on tracked and wheeled chassis.

For the first time, Russia is showing in Saudi Arabia the latest automated suppression system for unmanned aerial vehicles and radio monitoring equipment that can detect the drone operator. The anti-UAV system "Sickle-VS6" is capable of protecting objects from drones, including high-speed FPV (First-Person View), as well as from a swarm of drones.

The weapon of the future

In this regard, it is very indicative to look at which areas of development of unmanned vehicles and means of combating them the world's leading developers are focusing their attention on. For example, in the United States, there is a sharp intensification of work on the creation of drones working in conjunction with manned aircraft.

Already this year, the US Air Force is planning a series of UAV test flights aimed at testing appropriate technologies.

"We are talking here about the use of interacting unmanned aircraft, which are also called unmanned "faithful wingmen". They are supposed to be used together with modern and promising models of combat aviation, such as F-35 aircraft and the future Next Generation Air Dominance air platform," notes Fedutinov.

According to US experts, acting in cooperation with manned aircraft, unmanned "faithful wingmen" will be able to perform various tasks - conduct reconnaissance, strike at various targets (land, sea and air), suppress enemy radio signals or act as false targets.

In this regard, the US Air Force is working on three areas of development of unmanned "faithful wingmen": the development of the platforms themselves, the creation of the architecture of the control system for these UAVs, and figuring out how to organize and train this system.

The use of unmanned "faithful wingmen" in the Air Force of the LICE seems to be quite large-scale. Previously, the estimated number of promising devices was 1000 units. However, according to experts of the US Air Force, their total number is likely to be even greater.

However, in order to purchase such equipment in large quantities, the devices must be relatively cheap. Therefore, most likely, the price of such UAVs will be from a quarter to a third of the cost of the F-35 fighter, that is, in the range of $ 20 to $ 27 million per unit.

Possible platforms

The US Air Force is considering a number of aircraft from several development companies as a possible platform for "faithful wingmen". One of them is the XQ-58 Valkyrie unmanned aerial vehicle, developed by the American company Kratos Defense & Security Solutions just to accompany manned aircraft.

Valkyrie can fly at speeds up to 1050 km/h, while the cruising speed of the device is 882 km /h. The practical ceiling of the XQ-58 reaches 13.7 km, and the range of the UAV should be at least 5,550 km.

The drone's armament (which can weigh up to 270 kg) is placed in internal compartments. Potentially, the same amount can be placed on the external suspension units. JDAM and GBU-39 bombs can be used as weapons of destruction.

There is far from one contender for the role of a "faithful wingman" in the US Air Force. In addition to Kratos, Boeing, General Atomics and Northrop Grumman also initially participated in the work on this topic (later left the development companies).

Boeing offers the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat. It resembles a Valkyrie UAV in shape, but the engine air intakes are located on the sides of the fuselage. Despite the fact that the characteristics of the device are not officially disclosed, it can be assumed that it is somewhat heavier than the Valkyrie.

General Atomics uses its Predator C (Avenger) UAV, which had not previously received support from customers, as a platform (probably temporary). This is the heaviest device on the current shortlist. Its maximum take-off weight reaches 8,255 kg.

Why "faithful wingmen"?

The inclusion of autonomous interacting UAVs in combat is one of the main priorities of the US Air Force, as the Pentagon plans to bring combat aviation to a qualitatively different level, while updating the fighter fleet and radically changing its composition.

Why is it now that the United States is intensifying work on a topic that does not promise immediate returns, that is, the Air Force is investing exclusively in promising topics?

"This forced the US Air Force to pay attention again to the study of possible alternative approaches that could, figuratively speaking, change the rules of the game in the future," Denis Fedutinov believes.

One option is to implement the concept of unmanned "faithful wingmen". It is assumed that the development of these technologies will allow you to gain serious advantages over the enemy in future military conflicts. Therefore, China, India, Turkey and Australia are currently engaged in such work.

And what about Russia?

"The idea of creating Russian "interacting" UAVs was proposed several years ago by one of the leading Russian specialists in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, designer Nikolai Dolzhenkov.

He also formulated a list of tasks necessary for the implementation of this concept. Further developments abroad, including the launch of similar projects in China, India and Turkey, once again confirms the correctness of such technical visionary thinking.

"Unfortunately, the further course of events related to the SVO forced the Russian military department to significantly revise its list of priorities in terms of developing weapons and military equipment, focusing on what is needed 'here and now,'" Fedutinov said.

However, for Russia, the issues of ensuring the security of the state are not limited to current short-term tasks. The dynamics of changes in the geopolitical and military-political situation, the emergence of new threats only emphasize the relevance of initiating their own projects in terms of creating UAVs interacting with manned aircraft.

Therefore, according to Fedutinov, you should not postpone the creation of your own systems of this kind. Otherwise, there is a risk not only to miss the opportunity to change the balance of power in our favor, but also to allow the opposite on the part of our opponents.

Mikhail Khodarenok