Russia UAV programs, News & Update

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Personnel training of Russian FPV drone operators of Airborne Forces units. Before flying drones, operators are trained in computer simulators. Drone operators are improving their skills in controlling drones, in particular, in conducting reconnaissance, searching for high-priority targets, and adjusting the fire of various artillery systems. The training is carried out under conditions of simulating the enemy's active use of jamming by electronic warfare systems.

 

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Russian drone operators received the Nebo-22 VR simulator. The Russian armed forces began to receive the Nebo-22 VR simulator for training FPV drone operators. The equipment began to arrive at military units and training centers of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The development and creation of specialized Sky-22 helmets was carried out by existing drone operators and engineers of the commercial company Virtual Training Systems Era. The Sky-22 program introduces real satellite maps of the area, real military equipment and ammunition used on FPV drones. A drone designer function was also added to the simulator so that the operator could set the tactical and technical characteristics of any type of UAV and practice its control skills. The simulator has 25 training modules for different types, it allows you to simulate weather conditions, takeoff, landing, flight and everything that is currently used by FPV drone operators.

 

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Russian engineers have tested an ultra-fast FPV drone. The drone has 8 engines and can reach speeds of up to 400 km/h. Technical details and the name of the drone model have not yet been announced.

 

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In Russia, the Gonets satellite system and the Geoscan company for the first time implemented technology for controlling UAVs via satellite. For testing, the Geoscan 201 UAV from the Geoscan company was used; the experiment was carried out on Sakhalin. It is worth noting that the implementation of this system will allow the creation of autonomous maritime drones. The Geoscan-201 drone was equipped with a Russian on-board modem, Gonets, and all control of the drone was carried out through Russian satellites. For control, special mini antennas have been developed that are built into the UAV. During the tests, the possibility of establishing communication, transmitting telemetry data from the Geoscan 201 UAV to the Gonets-M spacecraft and sending commands from the ground control station to the UAV via satellite was assessed. A total of six flights were carried out. Experiments showed the effectiveness of the created communication system. The location data and telemetry data of the UAV were successfully transmitted to the data center, and a command was sent via satellite to force a return to the launch site. The electric UAV "Geoscan-201" has a take-off weight of 8.5 kg and is capable of speeds of up to 80 km/h at altitudes of up to 4000 meters. The UAV is capable of carrying a payload of 1.5 kg, a range of up to 210 km and can stay in the air for up to 3 hours.

 

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The Marines of the Russian Pacific Fleet received the Molniya-1 kamikaze UAV, as reported, the drone is already in use in the troops. The Molniya-1 FPV drone of the aircraft type is simple and cheap, in order to assemble the drone, neither a screwdriver nor a wrench are needed, it takes about 10 minutes to assemble the UAV. The UAV is most often equipped with KZ-6 cumulative charges and ammunition from the RPG-7 grenade launcher. The Molniya-1 UAV can overcome the zones of electronic warfare, it is implemented in such a way that when it gets into such a zone, the drone flies straight until it passes the electronic warfare zone, then it again flies along the route or under the control of the operator. The Molniya-1 UAV is equipped with a reinforced battery, which allows it to cover a distance of up to 30 km, the operator can control it at a distance of up to 20 km. The UAV flight time is about 35 minutes, the combat load is up to 5 kg, the software is Russian. The manufacturer of the UAV "Molniya-1" and the price are unknown.

 

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The first information about the new Russian kamikaze drones "Gerbera", developed by the N. F. Gastello Design Bureau, has appeared. The Gerbera UAV can be considered a junior version of the Russian Geranium-2 drones. The Gerbera UAV is cheap for its class of drones, the estimated price is $10,000 per piece, the drone is made of foam and plywood. The Gerbera UAV can be used as a reconnaissance drone, a target drone or a kamikaze drone. The Gerbera drone is equipped with a 4G modem with two antennas and a SIM card, this allows you to control the drone over any territory, Drones can be used in a swarm and are equipped with an internal combustion engine. The estimated speed of drones is up to 150 km / h, at altitudes from 20 to 1000 meters. The Gerbera strike UAV is produced in Tatarstan in the Alabuga special economic zone.

 

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Testing of the Russian Army's kamikaze drone KUB. Footage of testing the Russian loitering munition "KUB" by ZALA AERO. Technical information about it is in the link to the video in the comments to the video. Drone "KUB" "KUB" has been actively used since 2022, it was presented in 2019. The new high-explosive fragmentation warhead of the drone "KUB" uses an explosive substance octogen, also known as HMX or OKFOL, which is 1.7 times more powerful than trinitrotoluene. The drone is launched from a catapult and can self-destruct after falling if you approach it. The weight of the drone is from 10 to 15 kg, the price of the drone "KUB" is still unknown.

 

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Footage from one of the Russian mini-labs for repairing and upgrading FPV drones. The lab works around the clock and is engaged in: 3D printing, restoration, programming and upgrading FPV drones. Each military engineer services about eight drones daily. Details in the video

 

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The Russian Sukhoi Design Bureau has shown a new S-76 transport UAV. The new unmanned transport system outside of airfields, the S-76, takes off and lands vertically. A full-fledged flight model was presented at the Army-2024 exhibition. There is no talk of military use yet. The S-76 cargo UAV will deliver cargo over a distance of up to 500 km. The UAV does not require specially prepared sites or airfield infrastructure. Takeoff, flight along the route and landing are performed completely automatically, without the direct participation of the operator. The S-76 UAV complex exists in two versions, a small UAV and a large one. The small UAV is designed to deliver cargo weighing up to 50 kg over a distance of up to 400 km. The S-76 transport UAV, a large version, will be able to carry cargo weighing up to 300 kg, the maximum flight range will be about 1000 km, at altitudes of up to 4 km, with a maximum speed of 180 km / h. The S-76 project will allow the deployment of automated unmanned transport systems in Russia, which will make it possible to carry out air cargo transportation much more economically and with minimal human involvement.

 

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Russian Lancet-E drones have received permission for export, a representative of Rosoboronexport reported. The Lancet-E drone has received an advertising passport, that is, the possibility of sales abroad. The Lancet-E complex is an export analogue of the Lancet kamikaze drone. The Lancet-E complex includes a Z-16-E reconnaissance drone and two Lancet loitering munitions, designated as the Product 51-E and Product 52-E drones with different characteristics. There is also a Lancet-53 drone and a Lancet-55 drone called Product 55, more details about it are in the link to the video in the comments to the video. The Lancet-51 kamikaze drone has been modernized by adding a thermal imager and increasing its flight range to 80 km. Technical characteristics of the drone on the screen. The takeoff weight of the Lancet-51 drone is 12 kg, the mass of the warhead is 5 kg, it has been increased slightly, but by how much is unknown. The drone has optical-electronic and automatic guidance since 2023. The drone is equipped with an infrared camera, a laser target designator, a gas analyzer (to destroy large non-electric drones) and a radiometer to search for a target. Reportedly, the drone does not use GPS and determines coordinates from various sources and objects, electronic maps of the area may be used. The drone's software effectively counteracts electronic warfare. The Lancet-51 drone has an electric engine and allows it to reach speeds from 110 km / h to 300 km / h, with a flight time of up to 60 minutes. The price of the Lancet-51 and Lancet-52 drones is 35-40 thousand dollars. The predecessor of the Lancet drone is the kamikaze drone "Cube".

 

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The Russian troops in the Kursk region received the Molniya-1 strike UAVs. Footage of the launch of the Russian Molniya-1 UAV and an interview with the operator of this drone. The Molniya-1 FPV drone of the aircraft type is considered cheap, but its price is still unknown, technical information about the drone is in the link to the video in the comments to the video.

 

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The Russian Thunder drone, a wingman of the Su-57 aircraft. The Russian attack drone "Thunder" from the Kronshtadt company was shown again at the Army-2024 forum. This is the second, presumably simplified version of the Thunder drone, which was first shown in 2020. The simplification was probably made to reduce the cost of the project and to attract greater interest from potential customers. Now the UAV has a conventional power plant without a flat nozzle. When viewed from the side, the Thunder drone began to look like the Soviet Tu-141 Strizh UAV, which is now in service with Ukraine. It is worth noting that the Ukrainian Tu-141, due to an error, was able to fly unhindered over Romania, Hungary and Croatia. Perhaps based on this fact, they decided to simplify the design of the Russian Thunder drone. The Grom UAV is designed to operate as a wingman in the forward attack echelon in cooperation with manned aircraft, presumably with the Su-35 or Su-57. The UAV is designed to destroy ground targets in tactical and operational-tactical depth and perform reconnaissance missions. The Grom UAV has underwing and intra-fuselage weapon suspension points. The drone uses Kh-38 air-to-surface guided missiles, Izdeliye 85 missiles, as well as KAB-250 and KAB-500 guided aerial bombs. The maximum speed of the Grom UAV is 1,000 km/h, cruising speed is from 650 to 800 km/h, flight altitude is up to 12,000 meters, combat radius is up to 700 km. The takeoff weight of the drone is 7 tons, the payload is 2 tons.

 

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The Russian company Nova-Labs has published footage of a quadcopter test designed to intercept drones. The interceptor drone is equipped with machine vision and is capable of independently recognizing and targeting a target. In the video, the drone deliberately misses the target - the drone has a specified divergence distance, this is done to avoid wasting a large number of drones. Drones are intercepted kinetically, when colliding with a target, the interceptor drone retains the integrity of its structure and can be used further. According to the developers from Nova-Labs, there are currently two ways to launch a drone interceptor. This is a start from a manual launcher and a start from a tripod. The price, flight time and other characteristics are not reported.

 

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The Russian army has started using FPV drones with thermite ammunition in Ukraine. Similar drones were previously spotted in the Ukrainian army. The composition of the thermal mixture is unknown, but Ukrainian drones use the ZAB-2.5P incendiary element from the Soviet incendiary bomb cassettes of the RBK ZAB series. Most likely, the Russian drone also has an incendiary element from a similar series. The incendiary elements of the ZAB-2.5 series are capable of burning through up to 5 mm of steel. Technical details of the FPV drones are not reported.

 

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In Russia, they are completing the testing of another homemade drone with a grenade launcher, they promise that it will soon be delivered to the troops. The drone has a stabilization mode so that it is not thrown back when the grenade launcher is fired. The Russian drone is equipped with an RPG-26 grenade launcher with armor penetration of 440 mm, it will be used to destroy equipment in the upper projection, for this purpose the grenade launcher is installed at an angle of about 35 degrees. It is also supposed to install the RPO "Shmel" on the drone. The drone's carrying capacity is 12 kilograms, it is capable of rising to a height of up to 800 meters and developing a speed of up to 60 km / h. The drone's operating range is up to 30 kilometers. The approximate cost of the drone is about 600 thousand rubles or 6,500 dollars

 

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The new Russian drones "Karakurt" were received for testing by servicemen of the 114th separate motorized rifle brigade. "Karakurt" is a miniature reconnaissance drone, it transmits data in real time. The drone "Karakurt" is included in the third generation military equipment "Legionnaire". The drone is used in conditions of limited space from a compact transport and launch container - a tube. The drone is designed for reconnaissance of the area and can stay in the air for up to 20 minutes, the radius of the drone's flight is up to 1 km. Due to the small size of the "Karakurt" it is difficult to notice, it has a plastic body, which makes it impossible to detect the drone with current radars.

 

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The Russian Black Sea Fleet has begun training to detect and destroy sea drones. It is planned to use helicopters to search for sea drones. After detecting sea drones, FPV drones will be launched from helicopters. The training has already begun, and the real effectiveness of this method is currently being assessed. FPV drones could potentially become an effective and cheap means of destroying unmanned boats.

 

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We publish footage of the production of the Russian loitering munition "KUB" by ZALA AERO. The drone "KUB" has been used since 2022, it was shown for the first time in 2019, it is still being produced despite the appearance of the drone "Lancet". The drone "KUB" is cheaper than the drone "Lancet", it is mainly equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead with octogen. Due to its tactical and technical characteristics, the drone "KUB" demonstrates high efficiency in defeating enemy manpower. Now an automatic target designation system is being introduced at the final stage of the flight. The kamikaze drone "KUB" is constantly being upgraded, it is made of radio-absorbing materials. The exact characteristics of the drone "KUB" are difficult to name, since it is constantly being improved. Now it is known that the weight of the drone "KUB" is from 10 to 15 kg, the flight range already exceeds 50 km. The drone reaches speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour and carries a payload of 3 kg; the drone’s flight duration is 30 minutes.

 

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Footage of testing the Russian drone interceptor "Osoed", the company OOO "Ostrovtsy Invest". The drone has already been tested, it is especially effective against drones such as DJI Mavic. The FPV interceptor "Osoed" is equipped with a special mechanism with a Kevlar net, which is automatically fired at a distance of 5-6 meters from the enemy drone. Ramming the enemy drone is also possible. The drone is already at the stage of launching serial production, there are already orders from the military. The drone is equipped with a jam-proof channel and develops a speed of up to 140 km / h at altitudes of up to 5000 meters, the range of the drone is up to 6 km, flight time is up to 24 minutes.

 

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FPV drones "Ovod-S" with homing have entered the Russian troops, about 4000 in September. Despite the skepticism of many viewers, the production of drones has been established. We publish footage from the production of these drones and an interview with the developers at the end of the video. In the video, you can see how the homing system "Square" works. The drone is also equipped with a new cheap projectile for drones, it was shown earlier. The homing system uses technical vision and neural network, for the drone to recognize objects. The guidance system allows you to attack any targets, the accuracy of its use is about 90%. When the operator sees a target, he presses a button and the drone flies to the target even under the influence of electronic warfare. The drone "Ovod-S" has a remote detonation and self-destruction function, as well as a multi-stage protection system when equipping the warhead. The Ovod drone exists in different modifications, the combat load of the drone is about 3.5 kilograms, the flight range is about 8 kilometers at a speed of 150-180 km / h, the flight time is 8-10 minutes. The price of the Ovod drones is from 40 to 69 thousand rubles. Or from $ 411 to 710