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| 'They're getting smarter and smarter.' The enemy recognizes the successes of Russian unmanned aircraft |
| 2024-01-10 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Artemy Sharapov [REGNUM] Since the beginning of the new year, judging by data from open sources, strikes by the Russian Armed Forces against Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities have become more intense, including in comparison with the last weeks of 2023. This is despite the fact that in November last year, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Air Force Nikolai Oleshchuk admitted that in one of the raids our military launched a record number of combat copters across Ukraine. Various types of missiles and drones are used to carry out strikes. The nature of air attacks has also changed, which is also recognized by the enemy - judging by the reaction of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and officials of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers. In comparison with the winter campaign of 2022-23, the Russian Armed Forces significantly changed their strike tactics, using new methods of overcoming air defenses and more modern equipment. Drones are increasingly launched immediately before a missile attack in order to provoke enemy anti-aircraft systems to respond. Ukrainian air defense unmasks its location, depletes its reserves of anti-aircraft missiles, and by the time the missiles arrive it is reloading or in the process of changing its location. At the same time, the tactics of using drones themselves are changing. Kamikaze drones "Geran-2" began to use new routes in order to avoid enemy anti-aircraft fire, admitted Ukrainian expert Sergei Beskrestnov. “They are flying lower and lower, they are becoming more cunning, and at this rate they will soon exhaust our missile air defense (does anyone consider it endless?),” he noted. A video published on social networks shows a Russian drone (visually similar to the Geranium-2 kamikaze UAV), which does not fly in a straight path, but moves in a spiral. This makes it difficult to destroy the drone with machine gun or cannon anti-aircraft installations. At the same time, the drones are painted black to make them difficult to visually detect at night (previously they were white). The Ukrainian side claims that jet-powered drones were used for the first time to carry out strikes. As evidence, the media publish photographs of the wreckage of a drone, which was allegedly used in one of the recent attacks (note that official Kiev, represented by the speaker of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Ignat, has not yet confirmed this information). The photo shows parts of the unmanned vehicle, including fuselage elements, side stabilizers and jet engine debris. The comments claim that we are allegedly talking about one of the newest Iranian drones - the Shaded-283 jet UAV, presented to the general public quite recently, in November 2023 at a military exhibition in Iran. Neither Moscow nor Tehran, we recall, officially confirms the facts of the supply of Iranian combat drones to Russia or their production on Russian territory. According to experts, the engine for the new drones captured in the photo was created by copying and modifying Czech PBS TJ-100 jet engines, which are produced in a number of countries around the world, military expert Yuri Lyamin told IA Regnum. In particular, in Iran, locally assembled modified engines are known as Tolou-10\13. NEW "GERANI" - HEAVIER AND FASTER Drones of this type (they are called “Geranium-3”) have a number of advantages over the basic “Geranium-2” model, but are also inferior to them in a number of characteristics. “The key difference between the jet modification and the original one, in short, is the exchange of range for speed,” Lyamin explained. The jet variant should be much faster than the original model, making it difficult to defeat with various small arms and anti-aircraft artillery. “True, its fuel consumption should be noticeably higher. But this, in turn, reduces its maximum range,” points out Lyamin. The speed of jet drones is reported to be approximately 500 km/h. Presumably, the jet modification should have a reduced warhead due to the heavy engine and the need to carry an increased amount of fuel. No additional data about the new model was published online. The range of use of jet drones is also unknown, since it depends on the volume of fuel tanks, weight and a number of other characteristics of the new model. The fact that the Russian military has received jet-powered UAVs at its disposal, in any case, opens up new opportunities for overcoming enemy air defenses and for striking the positions of anti-aircraft systems. FPV DRONES WITH SMART EYES Another new product that appeared on the front in 2024 is a new model of FPV drones, designed to strike armored vehicles and positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. New drones are equipped with machine vision with an auto-target acquisition system, Ukrainian expert Beskrestnov said. They can operate even in the area of activity of electronic warfare systems and deliver more accurate strikes on targets. The operating principle of drones with “machine vision” allows them to independently identify and aim at a target. At the household level, software and hardware computer vision systems are already well known, allowing one to recognize license plates of cars or the faces of passengers in transport. Similar systems are used by police services around the world. The computer vision system for drones works in a similar way - it can “recognize” targets. Let's say, to determine what is in front of him - for example, a tank or an infantry fighting vehicle, Denis Fedutinov, editor-in-chief of the Internet portal UAV.ru, told IA Regnum. According to the specialist, systems of this kind were initially largely developed for the military. Then the technologies found application in the civilian sector, where their use was scaled up, new approaches based on the use of neural networks were tested and introduced. For such an “upgrade” the military should be grateful to civilian manufacturers. “Thanks to large-scale application, it was possible to increase the maturity of technologies and reduce the cost of final solutions. And now we see that these technologies are returning to the military sphere at a different level - in the form of much less expensive and at the same time functional systems that can provide the side using them with advantages over the enemy,” notes Fedutinov. Since the function of identifying and targeting a target falls on artificial intelligence (AI), the use of new drones is possible with minimal presence of a human operator. The “pilot” is required to bring the drone to the area of the intended impact, where the on-board computer comes into play. Thanks to the use of machine vision, new drones do not require experienced operators, which reduces costs and training time. Moreover, since the drone does not require “manual” control to strike, its operation is not affected in any way by the activity of electronic warfare (EW) systems, which jam the communication channel between the drone and the operator. “The use of this kind of systems in relation to unmanned vehicles, including “kamikaze devices,” makes it possible to increase their autonomy,” notes Fedutinov. "THE PERMANENT PROCESS OF EVOLUTION" For the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the use of new technologies by Russian troops immediately creates a number of problems, which Ukrainian sources also admit. More advanced AI is capable of not only prioritizing targets, but also identifying unprotected parts of armored vehicles, striking at the weak points of tanks and other vehicles. In theory, it is also possible to transfer several drones under AI control at once. Thus, the system can prioritize targets, distributing drones for strikes. Also, a more advanced system can “select” several drones to attack one target if one strike was not enough. However, the advantage gained on the battlefield can be offset by the development of more modern air defense systems, experts say. “We are observing a permanent process of evolution of means of destruction and means of protection. With the creation and implementation of machine vision systems for UAVs, their operators will receive advantages on the battlefield,” Fedutinov points out. However, the expert adds, these advantages must be used as quickly as possible, since the enemy will also continue to improve means and methods of defense. In Ukraine they are already announcing the appearance of their own developments created on the basis of artificial intelligence technologies, but the whole question is the timing of their appearance at the front. Information is being spread on social networks that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are planning to launch mass production of drones designed to destroy enemy drones. However, here and now, Russian technologies in the field of drone construction have seriously taken the lead. For Ukrainian troops, the use of a new version of jet drones means serious risks for air defense and facilities in the rear. While modified FPV vehicles can knock out most of the armored vehicles that the enemy uses at the front. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #2 yes the Russians are getting better at UAV warfare but that is mostly because they were so far behind Ukraine and they are still behind Ukraine in this area |
| Posted by: lord garth 2024-01-10 13:03 |
| #1 Iran develops new high tech attack drone for Russia |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-01-10 11:20 |