In Russia, a promising complex has been developed to counter mini-drones and defeat enemy manpower, according to the Military Thought magazine for the highest and senior command staff of the RF Armed Forces.

Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant (KEMZ) presented a complex based on a new universal remote-controlled combat module with an automatic guidance system and tactical augmented reality glasses.

As noted in the material, the combat module was placed on the universal base of the Typhoon-VDV armored car, but it can be installed on any large armored vehicle or vehicle.

The complex is equipped with an automatic targeting system and a ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun adapted for this purpose.

The firing range of the installation reaches 3 km.

The combat module uses a central computing system (CCS) developed by KEMZ specialists, which uses elements of artificial intelligence and control in augmented reality.

“The CVS receives data from optical sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, wind sensors, etc. Then the system determines the parameters of air targets, the best options for their destruction, and issues target designation to the operator,” the article explains.

  • Illustrations for an article in the journal "Military Thought"

  • © Military Thought magazine of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The augmented reality glasses used in the development of KEMZ help the operator to choose the highest priority targets.

“The operator, using tactical augmented reality glasses, sees these targets (the program highlights them for him) and selects the most important target at the moment.

The upgraded ZU-23 itself leads this target to a lead point, and the operator only has to press the button to open fire to defeat it, ”the authors of the publication note.

As military expert Alexei Leonkov recalls, augmented reality glasses are already being used by the troops on other combat systems.

“In particular, they are used in the Typhoon-Air Defense complex.

Only there operators of man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems have such glasses.

I do not exclude that we are talking about a similar technology here, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.

In the material of "Military Thought" it is reported that the synthetic tests carried out showed the probability of hitting an UAV when using such a system at 85-90%.

In addition, a promising UAV countermeasures complex can operate remotely using a control panel, which is carried out at a distance of up to 100 m, or via a radio channel at a distance of up to 2 km.

To increase the effectiveness of the use of the ZU-23 and the universal combat module, the specialists of the KEMZ concern are also developing 23-mm projectiles with remote detonation, and to increase the range of destruction of the complex to 5 km, it is planned to equip it with Verba MANPADS.

"Improve Accuracy and Efficiency"

As noted in the publication, on the basis of the created promising complex, it is planned to develop the appearance of a combined system for countering mini-UAVs and enemy manpower.

It will include several armored vehicles of the Typhoon type with remote control combat modules, automatic aiming and air targeting, microwave detection devices, tracking and suppression of drones, a low-power laser and Verba MANPADS.

All these elements should be under common control, which will allow combining the composition of the anti-drone combat unit with different weapons.

  • Armored car "Typhoon-VDV" at the military parade in honor of the 77th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Maishev

The structure of such a division may include the Rat mobile complex developed earlier by the Roselectronics holding.

It was presented to the public at the international military-technical forum "Army-2020".

The complex is designed to detect, suppress and destroy various UAVs with an effective reflection surface of 0.01 sq.

m and speed up to 200 km/h.

To suppress the radio-electronic equipment of the UAV, the installation uses microwave radiation, which effectively operates within a radius of up to 2.5 km.

And for the physical destruction of drones, Rat can use laser equipment with a range of up to 1 km.

Combat units equipped with such combined systems are needed to cover motorized rifle, tank, artillery and other tactical-level formations from enemy reconnaissance and UAV strikes, the authors of the publication state.

In addition, such complexes should prevent enemy reconnaissance UAVs from targeting their fire weapons.

“The combined use of remote detonation of projectiles, microwave suppression of electronic equipment, a laser, artificial intelligence and tactical augmented reality glasses can significantly increase the accuracy and efficiency of destroying UAVs and enemy manpower,” the authors of the material emphasize.

“In Russia, it is necessary to speed up the development of software for virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies, to establish serial production of such shooting simulators and tactical augmented reality glasses.”

"Various anti-drone weapons are being used"

According to Alexei Leonkov, the destruction of small UAVs remains one of the most important tasks in the framework of the special operation in Ukraine.

“Any drone in the sky is a threat.

Even the most primitive and cheap drone can be used, for example, to transmit target coordinates to enemy artillery systems, ”the expert explained.

  • "Tiger-M" with combat module "Crossbow-DM"

  • © Rosoboronexport

According to him, various anti-drone weapons are used in the Russian armed forces to destroy UAVs.

“These are systems that affect the electronics of drones, and complexes that physically destroy them,” the specialist said.

Recall that UAVs, including small ones, can be hit with the help of Pantsir air defense systems, which are equipped with missile and cannon weapons.

In recent years, these installations have been modified to eliminate small objects.

In addition, machine guns can be used against drones.

So, back in April 2022, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced an exercise in which the destruction of drones was practiced using the Arbalet-DM remote control combat module installed on the Tiger-M armored car.

As a weapon, it uses a 12.7-mm Kord machine gun with up to 450 rounds of ammunition.

It is also known that in Russia various options for hitting small drones with the help of personal small arms were previously worked out.

Another means of countering UAVs is electronic warfare systems.

Recently, anti-drone guns have become widespread.

There are several such developments in Russia.

Among them are the LPD-80, the Stupor, Silok and REX-1 electronic warfare systems.

The principle of operation of such systems is similar: they disable the control, telemetry and communication channels of the UAV, which as a result turn out to be unusable.

As military expert Yuri Lyamin noted in an interview with RT, the material in the MO magazine under consideration refers to a combined system that would combine methods of physical and non-physical impact.

“This is an attempt to combine different methods of destruction in order to make the most effective complex.

This will allow, for example, to use a gun at one radius, and a laser or an electronic countermeasures system at another.

Such ideas have been discussed in recent years.

Such projects are quite promising, the idea behind them is correct.

The main thing is to implement it to the full,” Lyamin concluded.