A promising drone can be used to supply troops and for bombing
Up to 300 kg of payload can be carried by the Motylek drone developed in Russia. It is equipped with four 60-kilowatt engines, which together are capable of lifting the device with a take-off weight of up to 600 kg. Such a load capacity allows, for example, to carry a 250-kilogram aerial bomb. According to experts, the main use for such powerful drones is to provide troops in hard—to-reach areas, and this should save many lives.
The Moth drone is being tested
Russia has developed a Moth drone capable of carrying a 250-kilogram bomb. It can perform a wide range of tasks: ammunition dumping, cargo transportation, radio signal relay. The special feature of the drone is its unique asynchronous three—phase motors, each with a power of 60 kW.
As Alexander Sudarev, a representative of the Sovelmash developer company, told Izvestia, the body of the device is made of aluminum, which allows you to lift even more weight into the sky. In addition, a new engine control system is being developed. Currently, Chinese-made controllers are used for control, but in the near future they will be replaced by a Russian equivalent.
The Moth drone
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
The drone has already passed laboratory tests, as well as lift tests. Equipped with four engines, the device can lift up to 600 kg into the air, of which 250-300 kg of payload (the rest is the structure itself, engines and batteries). Flight tests will begin in the near future.
— The more batteries we put there, the less space there is for the payload. It all depends on the distance that we need to overcome, on the tasks that need to be solved," explained the representative of the developer.
The flight time and range depend on the installed batteries, however, according to the developer, the device can travel a distance of 150 km.
How the Moth drone can be used
First of all, such a drone can be used to ensure logistics and supply troops at the front line or in hard-to-reach places, military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.
— With such a load capacity, you can transport quite a lot to the front line to provide units, — he explained. — Similar developments are developing abroad. Most importantly, the drone allows you to provide supplies without putting at risk the people who can carry these goods. And not everywhere ground transport can pass. And such a drone can land on a small platform, unload and fly away. And even if the drone is shot down, it is, of course, an expensive device, but at least lives will not be lost, as it would be with manned equipment.
According to the expert, in the future, such devices could be used to evacuate the wounded, but this requires careful technical study.
The drone can also carry an impressive bomb load.
Military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
— You can hang a FAB-250 aerial bomb to it and drop it exactly on target, but the problem is that the drone is quite large and not very fast, — said Yuri Lyamin. — And in this case, he becomes an easy target. So you need to look at the circumstances. The cost of such drones is not the cheapest. Of course, it is possible to use a drone to drop powerful ammunition when there is no counteraction from a serious air defense system or at night. In the most extreme case, they can also be used as a kamikaze drone - load explosives to the maximum and send them one way. But given its cost, this can only be justified if there is nothing else, but an urgent need to destroy a particularly important target.
Earlier, Izvestia reported that mass production of the MiS-35 attack and reconnaissance hexacopter had begun in Russia. This is a heavy drone that can drop ammunition and conduct reconnaissance. At the front line, where the device was tested, it has already been nicknamed the mini Baba Yaga for its external resemblance to the agricultural drones that use the APU.
MiS-35
Image Source: Photo: birds-eye.ru
The combat radius of the MiS-35 when flying with a load of 3.5 kg is nine kilometers, the maximum load capacity is 4.5 kg. In the reconnaissance mission mode, the MiS-35 can stay in the air for up to 45 minutes, in good conditions — 54 minutes. The drone accelerates to 63 km/h. With full load, the flight time of the drone is reduced to 30-32 minutes.
There is an analog camera with a six—fold zoom on board the MISA. A thermal imager can be used as additional equipment. This allows the drone to be used for reconnaissance at any time of the day.
In addition, serial production of the Rusak-S FPV drone with artificial intelligence has begun in Russia. He can independently recognize and prioritize goals. The operator of such a device has to choose the right one and give the command to kill. With the help of a neural network, the drone is trained to identify heavy, medium armored, as well as wheeled vehicles, artillery and infantry. For the last 500-1000 m, when a target is selected and a command is given to defeat it, it can fly offline. This allows you to confidently attack targets outside the radio horizon and bypass the enemy's electronic warfare systems.
Roman Kretsul
Bogdan Stepovoy
Vladimir Matveev
