Cases of the use of fighter drones have become more frequent in different directions
MOSCOW, October 11 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. Drones that have changed the face of modern warfare have learned to fight their own kind. Both sides have such highly specialized "birds". About fighter UAVs — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Ramming blow
Wing-type reconnaissance drones are used for reconnaissance, targeting artillery and kamikaze drones. Unlike the slow-moving Mavics, these UAVs are capable of flying much further and higher. It is difficult to notice and hear them from the ground. Air defense radar stations do not always see them either. And it's not very rational to spend an expensive anti-aircraft missile on a drone.
Russian military personnel are preparing to launch the ZALA drone during a special military operation
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Viktor Antonyuk
For some time now, the enemy has been complaining about Russian interceptor drones, which are increasingly shooting down the reconnaissance "wings" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian communications, electronic warfare and UAV specialist Sergey Beskrestnov (Flash) recently posted a video on social networks: the operator of a Russian FPV drone brings his copter to the tail of a Ukrainian reconnaissance UAV. It takes aim, accelerates sharply and rams an enemy drone.
Each such loss is quite sensitive. Ukraine has mastered the production of FPV drones well, but things are worse with more complex and expensive reconnaissance UAVs.
"They will knock out our reconnaissance wings faster than we will them," Beskrestnov laments. — They only produce 200-300 "Halls" per month, and there are also "Supercams" and others. Their pilots write: when we shoot down their wing, they get a new one within a day."
Supercam Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ramil Sitdikov
Until recently, it seemed that in the field of fighter UAV aviation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were ahead of us by years. Dozens of their videos were distributed online, where small cheap FPV drones felled Russian reconnaissance wings at high altitudes. Without such scouts, entire brigades were "blinded" and could not effectively carry out combat missions. But it turned out that this game can be played together.
The Russian military managed to catch up with the opponent and develop its own system for detecting a large "bird" and pointing an FPV interceptor at it.
As a result, Ukrainian heavy six-engine Baba Yaga UAVs worth 15,000 dollars a piece are being shot down more and more often. These hexacopters are an ideal target even for Mavic operators due to their size and low altitude.
A soldier of the air defense unit demonstrates the downed Baba Yaga UAV in the area of its
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Stanislav Krasilnikov
Another method, tested quite recently: hunting an FPV drone with the same "kamikaze". However, the effectiveness is still questionable — only a very experienced operator is capable of ramming.
With a fraction and a net
In addition to unmanned kamikaze fighters, there are also more exotic samples in the area of the SVO. So, the craftsmen of one of the Russian units fighting in the South Donets direction assembled a very original drone.
This is a quadcopter with a small caliber recoilless cannon rigidly fixed under its belly. Moreover, it operates on the principle of the Davis aircraft cannon of the First World War. That gun had one chamber with two barrels pointing in opposite directions. The front fired a projectile of caliber from 40 to 76 millimeters. The rear one was a charge of lead shot, which completely extinguished the recoil.
Fighter drone with recoilless gun
Image source: © Photo : from the military personnel's personal archive
The cannon drone has a large shot in front, and an equal counterweight in the back. And a light UAV gets the opportunity to hit small aerial targets at speed without risking falling into a tailspin from the recoil.
This development looks promising as a means against FPV drones: due to the large spread of shot, you can shoot down a moving target, even without aiming particularly. The fighter drone is currently being tested. Preliminary results indicate high efficiency.
The tasks of the fighters are also performed by commercial reconnaissance quadrocopters. There are several videos on social networks: a drone shoots a net that entangles the screws of an enemy device, and it loses control.
By the way, the Intercept cartridges for smoothbore rifles and carbines, which have proven themselves well in the fight against FPV drones, act in much the same way.
In addition, copters with a mobile electronic warfare system were spotted in some areas of the front. Such a "bird" plays the role of an air jammer, disrupting the communication and control channel between the enemy drone and the operator.
Foreign experience
Its experience is being studied all over the world. Iran, one of the main "trendsetters" in unmanned aviation, back in 2023 tested an interceptor UAV that independently patrols the area, following the example of an airfield falcon guarding the sky of an air harbor from birds. Having found the target, the drone swoops down and destroys it with a battering ram. According to the developers, such devices are especially effective in packs.
The Americans are not far behind either. Anduril has introduced the Anvil-M interceptor, a small drone in a two—seat launch container. After the radar has detected an enemy drone, a fighter is sent to destroy it. In the attack position, the anvil is located 30 meters below the target and is waiting for the operator's command. As soon as it arrives, the UAV rams an enemy object at a speed of about 320 kilometers per hour. The system works with such precision that it even sees all the birds in a given perimeter, the developers assure.
China, which has made serious progress in drone swarm technology, is developing its own programs. One of them, in particular, involves the use of a large number of small UAVs to create air curtains. Soviet air defense balloons operated in a similar way during the Great Patriotic War, which made it difficult for German aircraft to maneuver.
In general, unmanned fighter aircraft is a new and little—studied phenomenon. But its necessity is dictated by the very logic of war. The debut of drones as a superweapon inevitably gave rise to a whole range of means to combat them. And this arms race can become endless.
