Flight tests of the improved unmanned drone hunter "Wolf-18" have been completed in Russia.

“Flight tests of the modernized version of the Wolf-18, which included the actual destruction of target drones, have been successfully completed.

The drone has been significantly improved.

We plan to enter the state tests this year, "RIA Novosti quotes a representative of Almaz-Antey.

The press service of the concern confirmed this information to RT. 

Testing the capabilities of "Wolf-18" made it possible to establish that the UAV-interceptor is capable of detecting small enemy vehicles in a fully automatic mode and effectively disabling them.

"Insidious weapon"

"Wolf-18" was first demonstrated to the general public at the international military-technical forum "Army-2019".

The upgraded version is presented at the National Exhibition and Forum of Civil Aviation Infrastructure NAIS 2021, which is taking place these days in Moscow at the Crocus Expo.

The drone is a joint brainchild of specialists from Almaz-Antey and other domestic enterprises.

This is the first product of this class in Russia. 

The interceptor drone is a quadrocopter with dimensions of 60 by 60 cm and a takeoff weight of 6 kg.

The modified version of "Wolf-18" is equipped with a new optical-location station, providing an increased range of target detection, as well as an improved control system, which made it possible to automate its work.

The drone maneuvers independently, searches for and selects enemy objects.

The operator confirms the decision to destroy targets.

"Wolf-18" approaches the target and shoots a net at it.

As a result, the attacked drone begins to lose altitude and crashes on the ground.

The interceptor drone is armed with three mesh launchers.

When these charges run out, the soldier who controls the UAV can use the ramming function.

The flight time of "Wolf-18" is relatively short - 30 minutes.

Therefore, the military must launch it into an area where enemy drones are already located.

According to experts, the creation of the "Wolf-18" is dictated by the desire of the military and gunsmiths to simplify and reduce the cost of detecting and intercepting small UAVs, including handicraft devices of illegal armed formations (IAF).

  • Unmanned aerial vehicles involved in the attack on Russian military facilities in Syria

  • RIA News

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, such drones, despite their apparent simplicity, pose a serious threat due to the modern electronic and technical stuffing.

Small terrorist vehicles can carry out single and massive strikes in automatic mode, dropping the ammunition they carry on board.

Russia faced the danger of using drones by members of illegal armed groups in Syria.

Over the past years, terrorists in Idlib have regularly launched UAVs to attack the Russian Khmeimim airbase.

To repel an attack by drones, Russian military personnel use electronic warfare (EW) and air defense systems, in particular, the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system. 

Despite the successes of the RF Armed Forces in the fight against enemy vehicles, traditional weapons are not always highly effective, and their operation is sometimes quite expensive, Vadim Kozyulin, a researcher at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, director of the PIR Center program on new technologies and international security, said in an interview with RT ...

“Small homemade drones are insidious weapons.

Their cost is low, and they create a lot of problems.

They are difficult to detect by radar stations due to their low reflectivity, and optics do not always cope.

And the shooting is sometimes carried out with expensive anti-aircraft missiles, ”said Kozyulin.

According to the expert, it makes sense for Russia and other states to adopt new means of defense against UAVs, including those adapted to counter drones in an urban environment.

He recalled that earlier great hopes were pinned on laser and electromagnetic systems, but there is no significant progress in their improvement so far.

Today, the American army is also puzzled by the neutralization of threats posed by small-sized vehicles.

In January of this year, it became known that the US Air Force Research Laboratory plans to announce a tender for the development of a device capable of countering such UAVs.

"These capabilities are intended to combat small unmanned aerial vehicles and other means of similar technology available on the wide commercial market, which are currently used by our opponents in asymmetric combat operations against military personnel, as well as weapons and property of the US Armed Forces," stated in the preliminary description of the contract.

Drone police

In a conversation with RT, Dmitry Litovkin, editor of the Nezavisimoye Voennoye Obozreniye newspaper, noted that the advantage of the Wolf-18 lies in its reusability.

Such a product, as the expert believes, will be effective when it is necessary to eliminate the threat from one or more UAVs.

“I think that such an apparatus will mostly carry out police functions, that is, intercept individual small-sized vehicles.

The Wolf-18 is not suitable for dealing with a swarm of drones, but, in my opinion, the Derivation self-propelled complex with inexpensive artillery ammunition will cope well with this task, ”says Litovkin.

According to the expert, it makes sense for Russia to create interceptor drones, but they are unlikely to be able to reduce the importance of traditional air defense systems in the fight against drones.

“The main application of the“ Wolf-18 ”, in my opinion, will be to prevent unauthorized filming of objects subject to protection and to combat the launch of unmanned aerial vehicles, which are not registered and issued anywhere,” Litovkin suggested.

  • Interceptor drone "Wolf-18"

  • © Concern VKO "Almaz-Antey"

This view of the specialization of "Wolf-18" is shared by the military expert Yuri Lyamin.

In an interview with RT, he called the newest domestic drone a promising means of neutralizing the danger posed by multicopters - small vehicles that are now massively used for reconnaissance and sabotage.

The Wolf-18 is faster than conventional copters.

Accordingly, he can catch up with them, use mesh launchers or ram.

This is a promising thing, but it will be widely used, most likely, for anti-terrorist purposes and in urban areas, where fire on drones can cause panic among the civilian population, ”Lyamin explained.

According to the expert, domestic designers have found an original and safe solution by equipping the "Wolf-18" with mesh launchers.

“If this UAV manages to get by with nets alone, then in general it will be a very cheap way to deal with unwanted drones.

In addition, "Wolf-18" is a mobile system, it is easy to transport, deploy and launch in the desired location.

Other systems are larger and take longer to deploy, ”Lyamin summed up.