At the exercises of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District (YuVO) at the Kuzminsky training ground, the servicemen successfully used a combat quadcopter capable of remote mining.

This is reported by the newspaper of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation "Krasnaya Zvezda".

“It was assembled by army craftsmen from scrap materials in a short time.

And he does his job well.

According to its creators, it is possible to increase the number of controlled air miners quickly and at minimal cost, ”the publication says.

In July, the press service of the Southern Military District reported that about 40 quadrocopters had entered service with reconnaissance units and special forces of the Southern Military District.

The servicemen were instructed to master their use "in the course of combat training in the current summer training period."

"Mini-unmanned aircraft of a quadrocopter type will be actively used in various tactical exercises at short distances to carry out an objective assessment of the destruction of targets and adjust the fire of motorized rifle, artillery and tank units, as well as in the interests of reconnaissance units," the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation notes.

It is emphasized that the miniature drones supplied to the troops "have improved characteristics in terms of time, range and flight speed, low noise, and are oriented in space using the GLONASS system."

"Fly" and "Wolf-18"

As follows from the information of the military department, today quadrocopters are mainly used for reconnaissance tasks: monitoring the situation during the passage of mechanized columns, monitoring territory and objects, assessing the results of hitting targets, detecting enemy manpower and equipment at short distances.

In the future, quadcopters can be used to survey premises, dangerous or hard-to-reach spaces.

In April, at the Innovation Day of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and in August at the Army-2021 international military-technical forum, employees of the Era military technopolis (Anapa) demonstrated the Mukha miniature drone.

The peculiarity of the drone is that it is housed in a carbon fiber housing, which provides protection for the propellers in case of collisions with objects.

The device allows you to inspect tunnels, grottoes, cellars.

In addition, the "Mukhu" has an integrated autonomous flight function, which is activated in the event of a loss of remote control.

Another newest Russian UAV of a quadrocopter type is the Volk-18 apparatus, which is part of the ROSC-1 radar-optical complex for ensuring the safety and neutralization of unmanned aerial vehicles ROSC-1 developed by specialists of PJSC NPO Almaz (part of the Almaz-Antey concern).

The drone is an apparatus measuring 60x60 cm and a take-off weight of 6 kg.

Flight capabilities allow him to climb to an altitude of 2 km, stay in the air for about 30 minutes and maneuver.

The Wolf-18 is designed to intercept enemy UAVs by launching nets that entangle the propellers.

Most often, the victim of a fighter quadcopter loses altitude and crashes.

If it fails to hit the enemy, then the drone is able to ram it.

"Wolf-18" receives target designation from the station (ROSC-1. -

RT

), but automatically pursues the enemy drone.

The dimensions of the shot net are 2 × 2 m, so the probability of a miss is small.

In addition, the hitting distance should be less than 5 m, ”Vladislav Atryakhin, Almaz software engineer, explained earlier in a commentary on RT.

  • Unmanned drone hunter "Wolf-18" at MAKS-2021

  • © RT / Alexey Zakvasin

In January of this year, citing sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Izvestia newspaper reported that it was from 2021 that large-scale deliveries of a quadrocopter-class UAV would begin to the Russian troops.

The devices will be used not only in combat conditions and at training grounds, but also in everyday activities.

According to the publication, quadrocopters began to be used experimentally in the army in 2019.

It is known that in August of the year before last, the press service of the Western Military District announced the first tactical-special exercise in the military practice of the Russian Federation with the calculations of a drone-type UAV.

At the training ground in the Leningrad Region, drone operators were tasked with making adjustments to "deliver fire strikes with artillery, air and missile strikes", carry out reconnaissance, monitor the situation and patrol the territory.

  • RF Armed Forces quadrocopter

  • © mil.ru

The results of the tactical and special exercises were not reported.

However, according to Izvestia, following the results of the trial operation of quadcopters in various military districts of the Russian Federation, it was decided to switch to supplies for mass development by military personnel.

"Loitering pipe"

According to experts interviewed by RT, the functionality of using quadrocopters in a theater of military operations is extremely wide, as evidenced by the practice of their use in local conflicts and trends in the rearmament of the armies of foreign states.

In particular, the Turkish company STM produces a reconnaissance and strike drone Kargu-2, which, according to UN Security Council experts, was involved in the Libyan conflict against the troops of Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

According to the developer, the Turkish quadcopter is capable of autonomous flights at any time of the day, automatically recognizes targets, can use various tracking systems for enemy targets and be equipped with several types of ammunition.

Kargu-2 flies on an electric propulsion system.

The useful (combat) load of the apparatus is 1.3 kg, the time spent in the air is 30 minutes, the communication distance with the operator is 5-10 km. 

  • Turkish reconnaissance and strike drone Kargu-2

  • © www.stm.com.tr

In an interview with RT, the editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Viktor Murakhovsky, said that the main advantages of a mini-drone are maneuverability, the ability to hover over a target for a long time, cheapness, ease of operation - a quadrocopter does not require devices for launching and landing, as well as special skills from operator.

In addition, such a UAV is relatively easy to manufacture due to the wide availability of components on the market.

At the same time, due to its small mass, the quadcopter is subject to the negative influence of weather factors (wind, snow, rain).

“This direction is developing, but so far there are not too many quadrocopters in the troops of the states - leaders in the field of unmanned aviation.

One of the reasons is the short range and low payload compared to an aircraft-type UAV.

Nevertheless, the quadrocopter has its significant advantages, and it is gradually turning into a means of combat use in the tactical zone, ”Murakhovsky stressed.

According to the expert, with certain modifications, the mini-drone may well become the carrier of a variety of weapons.

For example, such a UAV concept is currently being developed by the Vitebsk design bureau "Display".

The company expects to be successful in the development of two reconnaissance and strike drones.

The first - "Quadro-1600" is equipped with two disposable anti-tank RPG-26 grenade launchers.

The takeoff weight of the quadcopter is 45 kg, the time spent in the air is 25 minutes, the range is 5 km, the speed is 40 km / h.

If necessary, the drone can transmit video data at a distance of up to 6 thousand meters.

The second device was named "Loitering pipe".

It has a more modest size and weight and is equipped with one RPG-26 grenade launcher.

The flight range of the Belarusian UAV is 2 km.

A rotary device can be installed on drones, which allows you to change the angle of inclination of the ammunition up to 90 degrees when aiming.

  • UAV quadrocopter type

  • © REUTERS / Mohammed Salem

“In fact, the idea of ​​using quadcopters in the armed forces not only for reconnaissance, but also for delivering strikes was suggested by the militants during the conflicts in the Middle East.

For sabotage, they first hung up ammunition for grenade launchers from drones, and then they began to use other explosives, ”Murakhovsky said.

In addition to equipping with small-sized ammunition, the expert considers it promising to install "recoilless" weapons on quadcopters - they will effectively destroy enemy drones without damaging the carrier with recoil.

Another direction in the development of design ideas, according to the expert, may be the further improvement of sapper drones, which have the ability to carry out "point mining".

According to the forecast of military expert Yuri Lyamin, in the future, quadrocopter-class drones will be widely used at short distances.

In a commentary to RT, the analyst noted that such devices are suitable, among other things, for use in urban environments - for example, when "cleaning" buildings from manpower and fighting snipers.

“Yes, copters have many limitations - they have a modest range, they are powerless over electronic warfare and vulnerable to being hit by any small arms. The main benefit of drones is that they can fly where a regular drone cannot. Such a device is capable of both reconnaissance and strike, including as a kamikaze, ”Lyamin summed up.