What tasks can the device perform in a combat zone?
Russian designers are developing a control system for a swarm of fiber-optic drones. It consists of a platform housing hangars for six or 12 compact drones. They can perform various tasks, from reconnaissance to dropping ammunition. Thanks to AI, all swarm components are able to work as a single unit. One operator is enough to control it. According to experts, the technology may prove to be very promising for performing certain tasks in a combat zone. However, the system may be vulnerable to the enemy, so tests are needed for final evaluation.
Drone swarm control system
A team of Russian designers from Stary Oskol is developing a control and charging system for a swarm of drones, which has been named Cerberus. It consists of a platform, inside of which, depending on the configuration, there are six or 12 hangars for small UAVs connected to it by fiber-optic cables. The installation is placed on a truck. To complete a combat mission, the system starts from a truck and releases drones at the right moment, which act as a single unit due to artificial intelligence.
Currently, engineers are at the stage of manufacturing individual components, parts and assemblies of the system. Work is underway on a frame and a flight control system, and they plan to show the first prototype in August at the Army 2025 forum.
Photo: KB Reanimator
Image source: iz.ru
— Cerberus can be called a base for smaller drones. She's their food, their brain, and their hangar. This is not just a flying frame, but a full-fledged control center. All UAVs are interconnected and interchangeable. If they work in pairs, then one conducts reconnaissance to identify targets, and the other works on them with drops or, if absolutely necessary, goes to ram himself, undermining the target. The system can be used for reconnaissance and surveillance, attacks by dropping warheads, targeting aircraft, firing thermal charges to deceive enemy missiles and working together with air defense," said Mikhail Klimchuk, General Director of the design bureau "KB Reanimator".
If necessary, you can program the artificial intelligence module to perform the task on its own. Then the operator just has to observe his actions and adjust them if necessary, the developer said.
Fiber-optic cables provide a secure and stable connection between the drones and the platform, allowing real-time information transmission. It also minimizes the risks of data interception by the enemy, as optical fiber is less susceptible to interference compared to radio signals.
The weight of the installation is about 170 kg. Half of this mass is made up of engines, the rest is a carbon frame, a control system, coils with fiber inside hatches that open automatically as when launching a rocket, as well as the drones themselves with artificial intelligence modules.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Image Source: iz.ru
Only one person is required to manage the complex. The system is quickly deployed to fulfill its combat mission. This takes about three minutes after the Cerberus is installed on the base of the car. It can work in conjunction with air defense using already written program code. UAVs are capable of ramming down missiles fired by the enemy, as well as shooting off heat traps.
The drones inside the installation are equipped with a complete set: a thermal imager, night and day cameras, as well as additional devices for automatically dropping up to five warheads. The configuration may vary depending on the required tasks.
Vulnerabilities in the system
The most likely application of such a system is continuous monitoring of areas with the possibility of attacking targets, Sergey Kurapov, a researcher at the MGUTU Research Department, told Izvestia. According to the expert, the advantage of the platform is that it can move. This will allow the base station to remain unnoticed by the enemy longer.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Pivovarov
Image source: iz.ru
— As the fighters told me, the return of a fiber-optic drone is possible only in the field. Because if the cable lies on the branches of trees, it is almost impossible to remove it from there. The platform itself is technically complex, and its production and maintenance can incur high financial costs. It is better to adhere to the 1 to 10 rule: one drone should hit a target that exceeds its cost by 10 times," the expert said.
The proposed technology takes into account modern approaches to the use of UAVs — this is the use of optical fiber, artificial intelligence technologies and a drone port for rapid deployment of the system. Tactics that have already been developed for UAVs are being used — reconnaissance, fire damage and camouflage, said Roman Meshcheryakov, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the laboratory of Cyberphysical Systems at IPU RAS.
— The weakest link is the base. It will become the main point that the enemy will hunt," he believes.
Drones controlled by fiber-optic cables are ideally suited to destroy certain objects protected by electronic warfare. This has been proven during the operation of the Prince Vandal Novgorodsky combat UAV, said Nikolai Ivashov, an official representative of Fly Drone, an expert on the Aeronet NTI market.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Pivovarov
Image source: iz.ru
— However, the answer to the question of how effective a whole swarm of such drones can be can only be given by numerous tests in various scenarios and practical application experience. After all, there are a number of obvious technical nuances here. When each drone from the swarm is physically connected to the operator in the most direct sense, coordinating their actions requires ultra—high accuracy, which is not an easy task to achieve, even with the involvement of AI," he said.
The Cerberus Project is a participant in the Technological Development track of the Strong Ideas for a New Age forum, which is hosted by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Roscongress Foundation.
Denis Gritsenko
Julia Leonova
