New anti-drone technology will enhance the density of Russian air defense
Since the beginning of the special military operation, unmanned aerial vehicles have gone a long evolutionary way. Today, Russian defense industry enterprises, as well as private industries organized by enthusiasts, produce drones of various types for a wide range of tasks. One of the new areas in which drones are used is air defense. The Joker-10 FPV drone has recently been upgraded for this purpose. About how drones are being improved to combat their own kind, and about training programs for those who control them, in the Izvestia material.
New application
Terrorist attacks using aircraft-type UAVs on objects in Russia have recently become the signature of the Kiev regime. On April 4, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of five drones over the Tula and Belgorod regions. Exactly the same number of UAVs were shot down on April 2 — in the Belgorod region and in the Kursk region.
There are several ways to protect against drones. Firstly, they are suppressed by electronic warfare, and secondly, various air defense systems are working on drones. Finally, any possible means, up to personal small arms, are used to destroy aircraft.
A new direction in the fight against UAVs is the use of fighter drones against them. So, the other day, the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CCDB) presented a new modification of its FPV drone "Joker-10". The FPV air defense team, armed with special ground equipment and these drones, can become a very promising addition to the general scheme of intercepting air targets on the last line of defense, Dmitry Kuzyakin, Director General of the Central Research Bureau, told Izvestia.
The innovation used in the Joker-10 is pipes from false thermal targets of aircraft, which are mounted on a drone, but instead of a high—temperature mass they are filled with explosives and damaging elements. When fired, a cloud of fragments is formed, which knocks down the enemy's UAV.
The Joker-10 drone
Image source: Photo: CCDB
— Of course, it is not always possible to use these fire capabilities, — Dmitry Kuzyakin explained. — For example, it should not be done over the territory of a protected object. And not every private organization, industrial enterprise has the right to even lift drones filled with explosives into the air for its own protection. In such situations, drones perfectly cope with their task with the help of a kinetic impact — a ram. Today, this is the most effective way, the fastest and safest. But it only works with a high level of skill of the FPV drone operator, the interceptor pilot.
The last point is especially important. After all, the FPV drone, despite the common misconception, does not do anything by itself - it is a tool in human hands.
— There is a misconception that drones are such mechanical creatures with their own intelligence, they say they just need to say: go and do everything right! And they will fly to intercept or fight for us on the battlefield," Dmitry Kuzyakin explained. — But there is always a calculation of living people behind every drone. A drone may have one or another level of automation for different tasks, but people always prepare them, lay down a task, program or even control them in direct mode. In fact, in modern drone warfare, humans are the main element of the system. And it will be like this for a long time.
A team of enthusiasts
The Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions was created by a group of MIPT graduate specialists. Since 2021, they have been training specialists in the combat use of FPV drones.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
Image source: iz.ru
— We have a training center for instructors. We can also prepare FPV calculations directly, but since we can't teach everyone, we decided to give people fishing rods instead of fish. We recruit a group of people and train them. And they are already coming to their place as instructors, including to their own zone, and preparing calculations," Dmitry Kuzyakin said.
According to him, the center works only with law enforcement agencies.
— We are constantly improving our techniques, and this has resulted in 20 different combat scenarios and several more civilian ones. Our systems can be used to protect industrial and infrastructure facilities — bridges, ports - from air attacks. We have worked out these methods, brought them to the field tests, after which we managed to prepare our specialists," said the Director General of the Central Research Bureau.
How it works
As an example of a situation in which the Joker-10 could be used, Dmitry Kuzyakin cited recent attacks by aircraft-type drones on industrial facilities at a distance from the border with Ukraine. This means that they were able to infiltrate through a layered air defense system. And in this case, FPV air defense calculations equipped with "Jokers" may well prove to be the last line of defense.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
Image source: iz.ru
— The air defense team consists of several people. It is difficult for one FPV pilot to detect a target in the air and aim at it. Only by working in a team, according to a certain method, a target in the air can be detected. And fast enough to build an interception trajectory and destroy it.
The FPV calculation launches a high-energy drone to intercept with almost no load. This means that all the power inherent in the motors and the high current output of the batteries is fully realized in two to three minutes. This time is more than enough to detect and intercept an aerial target, Dmitry Kuzyakin summed up.
Unmanned aerial vehicles have become, in a certain sense, an expendable option, military expert Alexei Leonkov told Izvestia.
— We have already prepared a large number of UAV operators, about 10 thousand. And their training is now on an ongoing basis. People who have signed a contract are assigned various specialties. Drone operators are one of them, and it is in demand," the expert stressed.
According to Alexey Leonkov, using relatively cheap Joker-10 drones to intercept enemy UAVs is the optimal solution.
— You can call it a fighter drone. We have already seen footage of the attack of these drones against the Baba Yaga UAV with a good result," he recalled. — The enemy was losing drones. Because shooting down small FPV drones is quite problematic, on the one hand, and you don't want to spend expensive ammunition either. And so — we found the optimal solution.
The approach that we see on the example of the Joker-10 system will contribute to more effective use of drones both in active defense and in offensive operations on the battlefield, military expert Gennady Alekhine told Izvestia.
"First of all, this will help to improve the density of defense," he said. — As the situation in the Belgorod border area shows, in the last two weeks the enemy has begun to apply an integrated approach — first it launches drones, and then there is a missile attack.
To counteract such tactics, it is extremely important to establish close cooperation between air defense, electronic warfare and drones, the expert concluded.
Julia Leonova
Vladimir Matveev
