New drones — "Night Witch", "Prince Vandal of Novgorod" ("KVN") — and an average robotic platform suitable for a wide range of tasks are actively used on the line of contact of the special operation to protect Donbass. Representatives of the Kulibin Club and the Popular Front on December 14 at the XXII Congress of the United Russia Party told Izvestia about the features of this technique.
"This drone is called the Night Witch, it is actively used on the front line. It flies at night, can carry up to four charges and actually hit the enemy at night, which is convenient. It is equipped with a thermal insulation chamber and night vision," said Gleb, a representative of the Kulibin Club.
He noted that this is a rather complicated technique, but factories produce them in sufficient quantities to supply the front. Kulibin Club actively cooperates with the factory, helping to scale production and send drones to the military on request. The exact volumes of supplies are classified.
Gleb also talked about the KVN drone, which is assembled using optical fiber and has a flight range of about 15 km. Thanks to optical fiber, the drone cannot be suppressed using electronic warfare (EW). This drone was first tested at the test site, and then it was the first to be widely used in the Kursk direction.
Boris Podolny, deputy head of the Executive committee of the Popular Front, said that the organization supplies the Russian military with medium-sized robotic platforms that are suitable for mining, for logistical tasks, and for carrying weapons, for example, machine guns, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), and for evacuation if a stretcher is installed on the platform. The load capacity of the equipment is 250 kg, while it has sufficient width not to get stuck in the ground. Podolny noted that this type of technology is now developing even more dynamically than drones.
In order for robotic platforms to be improved more actively, they must be included in the staffing of units, establish the process of training fighters and the use of such equipment to solve various combat tasks. The deputy head of the executive committee shared that he had seen the military in positions right in the field making similar mechanisms.
Earlier, on September 20, Bauman Moscow State Technical University specialists completed the development of the robotic wheeled armored platform "Tor". This equipment weighs 5 tons and can be used to deliver a variety of equipment, weapons and military equipment. The range of the Tor is 200 km, the platform can take up to 1.2 tons of payload.
On August 14, Eduard Baghdasaryan, Director General of the Association of Enterprises of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Industry, told Izvestia that Prince Vandal Novgorodsky is equipped with a fiber optic coil that unwinds while the drone is flying. According to this material, the drone is controlled and transmits a video stream.
The special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.
