The Piranha FPV drone will be able to transfer up to 15 kg of cargo over a distance of up to 15 km
An improved version of the Piranha FPV drone, which at one time destroyed the first American Abrams tank, appeared in the combat zone, Izvestia found out. Now he will be able to engage in remote mining, deliver water, food, ammunition to remote positions and drop various ammunition. The development of a new UAV began at the request of one of the units from the line of contact and lasted about six months. Experts believe that local mining using the Piranha FPV drone will create serious problems on supply routes and routes for the transfer of enemy equipment.
Three tasks — one FPV drone
Russian fighters received the first Piranha-13 FPV drone in the zone of a special military operation. This was told to Izvestia by the head of public relations at SKB Piranha.
The development company, which became widely known due to the destruction of the first American Abrams tank in the area of its own with the help of their UAV, was approached by military personnel with a request to finalize the drone for the possibility of remote mining and ammunition dumping.
— It is necessary that the drone can carry two thermobaric projectiles or an anti-tank mine for 10 km and then return to the place. In this case, you need to add another camera to it.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Sukhorukov
Image source: iz.ru
This is too big a "bird" to fly during the day, so we will work at dusk, then we need a night or thermal camera — such a request was received by the Piranha Design Bureau from one of our divisions.
As a result of the development work, this technical task was completed even with a margin - the drone is capable of delivering up to 15 kg of cargo over a distance of up to 15 kilometers.
One of the tasks that an FPV drone can solve is remote mining.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov
Image source: iz.ru
The second task is to deliver water, food and ammunition to remote positions.
— Fighters leave, for example, for a week, taking with them about three liters of water per person. After that, they go to be replaced, and it often happens that this squad does not reach for one reason or another. As a result, the fighters who left a few days ago have to wait another week for the next shift to come. And they have been living without water all this week. And with the help of Piranha-13, this problem is solved, since it carries up to 15 kilograms," explained the representative of the company.
The third task is to drop cluster munitions, explosives or improvised explosive devices.
How can the work of our fighters be made easier in the future
The issue of supplying soldiers on the line of contact is now very acute, military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.
— Due to the active use of FPV drones, the delivery of water and ammunition becomes a very non-trivial task, — he is sure. — Any equipment and people who deliver these goods immediately turn out to be one of the primary goals. The load capacity of 10-15 kg is quite good. Besides, night is just the right time for mining. You can sneak into enemy territory a little further and drop mines there on the supply route through which it passes. Also, at this time of day, the drone will be less noticeable, during the day, due to its large size, it will become a very convenient target for destruction.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
As military expert Dmitry Kornev explained to Izvestia, creating a serious mine lane requires dozens of mines, if not hundreds. But with the help of such UAVs, it is possible to mine point areas — roads, established highways, that is, not in an open field to create hundreds of meters of mined territory, but locally.
— If a sufficient number of such drones are produced, in particular, there will be ten of them in each unit, then this will allow a small unit to mine a rather large territory in a day, — he clarified. — Two, four, six mines are also very serious and will create problems along the route of the enemy's equipment. Also, this drone can vary the payload, which is extremely useful for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, because they will be able to choose ammunition based on need.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
In addition, the expert suggested that in the future we try to make the work of such drones autonomous.
— Working at night will not bring inconvenience to our fighters, but you can create special software to make it easier. Drones can perform many actions practically without the participation of an operator," he noted. — An operator is needed when there is a "hunt" for a moving object. And if you need to deliver a certain cargo from point "A" to point "B" and perform actions that are clear in advance, the operation of the UAV can be automated. So, for example, the commander of the unit entered on his laptop which points should be mined and what. The fighter loaded the drone with the appropriate ammunition — and the UAV went along the route, completing the task.
Characteristics of the new Piranha
The development was carried out for more than six months. Thanks to eight engines and a properly selected propeller group, the device has a load capacity of up to 15 kg. This is a significant difference from the previous Piranha-7 and Piranha-10 models, which have this indicator of 2.5 and 4.5 kg, respectively.
Piranha-13 is an improved model that is equipped with all the systems of its predecessors, but also has a number of additional ones: a quick—release battery mount, a camera stabilization system and the ability to install several for multispectral operation, a stabilization system for the device in case of failure of one or two engines.
A new way of mining enemy territory
Earlier, Izvestia wrote that a little more than six months ago, the Russian army began using UAVs to throw mines behind enemy lines. This was told to the special correspondent of the publication by soldiers on the front line.
— As you know, there are three types of UAVs, — says platoon commander Denis, call sign Legate. — Attack drones, scouts and so-called FPV (First Person View, "first person view". — Izvestia), that is, kamikaze. Now a fourth one has been added to them — our "miners", capable of using special mechanisms to bring a projectile into combat readiness in the air and reset it.
POM-2 mine for mining enemy territory with a drone
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Prudnikov
Mining drones also belong to the FPV class, the Legate explains, the control is carried out by a remote control in virtual glasses. But it is not necessary to crash into the target and, accordingly, self-destruct. The aircraft delivers the projectile to the desired point, 2-6 km from the demarcation line. And then he returns back to the operator, remaining in the ranks. So, according to Denis, a drone named "St. George" (guys call their screw machines, like ships in the tsarist army, the names of Russian saints) made 34 successful round-trip flights.
The most common projectile for casting is the POM-2 mine (antipersonnel fragmentation). When cocking it, four thin 10-meter nylon threads are released from the body, which act as tripwire sensors. The radius of the circular damage of the "pomka" is 16 m.
Julia Leonova
