At the Arms and Security exhibition, which is taking place these days in Kiev, a model of the heavy reconnaissance and attack drone ACE One is presented.
It is reported that 25 engineers are currently working on the project.
The lead developer is the private Ukrainian company Air Combat Evolution.
According to the chief designer and project manager, the former head of the company "Antonov" Alexander Los, the device allegedly has no analogues in the world in its class.
According to him, ACE One is made on the basis of stealth technology, providing low visibility of the machine on radar radars.
“We have developed a new, state-of-the-art combat drone, ACE One.
There have never been such drones either in Ukraine or in the world ... ACE One imperceptibly appears, destroys the target and disappears, as if dissolving into thin air.
The control is carried out using an artificial intelligence system that can control a swarm of such drones, "- quoted by Los' agency" Interfax-Ukraine ".
The declared mass of ACE One is 7.5 tons, length - 11 m, width - 8.5 m, combat load - up to 1 ton, design speed - 1000 km / h, maximum flight altitude - 13.7 km.
It is noted that the drone will be able to use guided weapons to destroy ground and air targets.
“In its class of combat drones that can carry weapons weighing up to one ton, ACE One is number one.
It is designed with the latest stealth technology.
Thanks to this, as well as its flat wing shape, the drone is virtually invisible to radars, it is difficult to figure it out, ”says Los.
ACE One is being developed in cooperation with several Ukrainian organizations.
In particular, the power plant is being created by the Ivchenko-Progress and Motor Sich enterprises, and Gidrobest LLC is responsible for the manufacture of the airframe.
The developer hopes that the UAV project will be able to attract investments from India, Israel, North America and Europe.
"Against Russian drones"
According to the lead developer, ACE One will be able to perform a large number of tasks in the theater of operations: conduct reconnaissance, shoot down other aircraft, sabotage enemy territory, suppress enemy air defense systems, and participate in assault operations.
One of the founders of Air Combat Evolution, the ex-head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Vladimir Usov, said that a heavy reconnaissance and strike drone is necessary for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to confront Russia.
“We need to have a defense system against Russian reconnaissance drones.
Fast and powerful, the ACE One stealth drone is the perfect defense against enemy drones.
If Ukraine has several swarms of ACE One in service, it will greatly increase the country's entire defense capability, ”Usov told reporters.
ACE One project presentation in Kiev
© ACE
Meanwhile, as stated by a RT source in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Air Combat Evolution and other enterprises of the Ukrainian defense industry cannot boast of having a scientific and technological foundation for creating a drone with the announced tactical and technical characteristics.
“In the current conditions, the army needs a drone like ACE One, but there are few real chances for the implementation of this project due to the lack of highly qualified specialists and investments.
Visitors to the exhibition were shown an impressive layout.
However, the drone project is still very crude.
Apparently, the developers hope to attract funding with the help of large-scale PR, ”said the source of RT.
As noted by a RT source in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the aviation industry of Ukraine is in a dilapidated state.
Moreover, over the past 30 years, the system of technical education and training in production has degraded.
“Companies are trying to create something to strengthen the military potential of the country, but often these attempts do not lead to anything.
The army is still devoid of effective UAVs.
Ukraine is in a situation where it can only rely on the supply of export products, ”he explained.
The RT source in the Servant of the People party also stated that there are no engineering centers in Ukraine capable of developing a drone of a long flight duration, as well as weapons for it.
“They made some kind of clowning from the presentation of this drone.
All sane people understand that such a project is a fantasy for the modern Ukrainian industry.
It is one thing - real developments in this area, which are in other countries, it is quite another thing to demonstrate a layout with transcendental characteristics.
All this can only become a pretext for ridicule, "the representative of the Servant of the People emphasized.
"The result will be zero"
Currently, the army and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine are armed with drones of mainly light class, both foreign and domestic production.
In particular, in the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Guard and the Border Service of Ukraine, a line of Ukrainian reconnaissance UAVs "Aist-100", PD-1 and PD-2, "Fury", "Valkyrie", as well as American RQ-11B Raven drones are being operated.
The range of these devices is limited to several tens of kilometers.
They are designed to conduct reconnaissance and adjust artillery fire.
Model of the drone ACE One
© ACE
On the line of contact in Donbass, the Ukrainian Armed Forces use small-sized attack drones made on the basis of DJI's widespread commercial quadcopters on the market.
Such UAVs are used to drop modified VOG-17 ammunition or RKG-3 cumulative grenades at militia positions.
True, the combat radius of the converted apparatus is small (3-4 km).
Experts interviewed by RT are convinced that Ukrainian engineers from Air Combat Evolution overestimate their potential.
According to experts, the creation of a heavy-class UAV is a very difficult engineering task, which only technologically advanced states can do.
The most indicative evidence of Ukraine's lack of competencies in the field of UAVs, analysts called the purchase by Kiev of the Turkish reconnaissance and strike vehicles Bayraktar TB2 with a takeoff weight of 650 kg.
The Ukrainian authorities do not hide that they expect to launch the production of these drones on their territory in the future.
In a commentary on RT, the head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, recalled that the leading military powers, including Russia, only recently received UAVs weighing about a ton or more.
“It seems to me that Ukrainian developers are either cunning or do not really understand that a drone, especially a heavy class one, is not a radio-controlled glider capable of dropping a bomb or a rocket.
This is a very complex complex that requires the integration and synchronous work of a lot of technical solutions that are far from always at hand.
In any case, today we see only a layout and beautiful computer graphics, ”Mikhailov explained.
The expert drew attention to the need for Ukraine to create a huge number of new on-board systems: a radar station, navigation, communication and control aids.
Mikhailov sees the only way to solve this problem in the current situation in establishing close cooperation with Israel and Western countries.
“It is practically impossible to create an apparatus with such large weight and size characteristics from scratch.
Without the involvement of Israeli, American or European engineers, the project (ACE One. -
RT
) cannot be realized.
For this, in addition to political permission from the "friends", Kiev will need to accumulate significant financial resources.
It will be very difficult to find them, ”says Mikhailov.
The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko adheres to a similar point of view.
According to him, Kiev will have to use the products of the intellectual labor of Western engineers and purchase many expensive foreign components.
“However, I very much doubt that any carrier of competencies in the field of unmanned systems will enter into cooperation with Ukraine.
The West is not interested in such a format of military-technical cooperation with Kiev, ”Korotchenko said.
At the same time, according to the expert, modern Ukraine does not have sufficient internal resources to put a heavy-class drone on the wing.
“Decades can pass from the drawing, the layout to the practical implementation of the drone project.
In addition, Ukraine has long lost its competence in the field of aircraft construction, precision mechanics, and guided missile weapons.
You can argue for a long time and indulge in dreams, but for Ukraine this project is absolutely unrealizable.
The result will be zero, "Korotchenko summed up.