Unmanned aerial vehicle “Thunder”.
The United States named the most promising Russian drones. The number of developments included “Orion”, “Altius-U”, “Sirius”, “Helios”, “Thunder” and “Hunter”. AiF.ru reminds what kind of drones they are, what are their capabilities and when they will appear on Russian armament.
An article appeared in the American edition of The National Interest, the author of which reviewed six of the most promising Russian drones.
First on the list is the Orion (Pacer) drone. The launch of serial production of these devices is scheduled for the end of this year, export sales – in 2022.
“Orion” was created by the “Kronstadt” company within the framework of the ROC “Inokhodets” under a contract with the Ministry of Defense. Orion belongs to the class of medium-altitude drones with long flight duration. With a wingspan of more than 16 m and a length of 8 m, Orion has a take-off weight of 1 ton. The maximum payload of the drone is 450 kg, which allows it to carry four missiles on board. Cruising speed is declared at 120 km / h, maximum is unknown. The device is capable of operating at altitudes up to 7.5 km. Depending on the load and configuration, the UAV can remain in the air for about a day. This device has a fairly high flight performance and a solid reserve of carrying capacity, which makes it a good platform for placing missile and bomb weapons.
A small-caliber adjustable armament was specially developed for it – the KAB-20 and KAB-50 aerial bombs, the UPAB-50 planning aerial bomb. In May, Orion flew 38 sorties in Syria. In 17 of them, he struck terrorist targets, 20 reconnaissance and one “for other purposes”. Customers abroad have already become interested in it.
The second promising device included in the survey is the heavy drone “Altius-U”, capable of performing the entire range of reconnaissance missions. It has a large wing span of 28 meters, an optical-electronic reconnaissance station and a side radar with an active phased antenna array. The range of the strategic reconnaissance aircraft reaches 7 thousand kilometers. It has two turbodiesels and is capable of flying up to 48 hours at a cruising speed of up to 250 km / h. Its combat load reaches a ton.
The third is the Sirius unmanned aerial vehicle – the improved Orion. It differs in greater mass and size, higher speed and will receive new electronic equipment. It can carry out combat missions within a radius of 1000 kilometers, the mass of the missile and bomb load has been increased to 300 kg. The creation of the first prototype of the new Russian attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) “Sirius” will be completed in 2022, in the same year its flight tests will begin.
“Sirius” belongs to the class of medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles with a long flight duration. The device will receive a take-off weight of up to 2 tons, its wingspan will be up to 23 meters, the flight duration should reach 20 hours. The maximum flight altitude of the drone is declared at 7 thousand meters, the cruising speed of the device will be 180 kilometers per hour. Sirius will be powered by two turboprop engines.
The fourth on the list is Helios, which has a wingspan of 30 meters and a weight of 5 tons. Little is known about him so far. He is capable of performing various reconnaissance missions and delivering airstrikes. As a radar on it, most likely, a fragment of a radar station for an early warning aircraft will be installed.
In fifth place is the high-speed unmanned drone “Thunder”. It has a combat load of 2 tons and a maximum take-off weight of 7 tons. The device is capable of speeds up to 1000 km / h, the range of combat use reaches 700 km.
In one of the variants it will be able to carry X-38 guided missiles of the air-to-surface class. The intrinsic shock capabilities of the Thunder drone are associated with the presence of four suspension points – two under the wing consoles and two inside the fuselage. “Thunder” will also be able to use a wide range of weapons, in particular the new “product 85” aircraft guided missile and the KAB-250 and KAB-500 guided bombs. The drone can be armed with adjustable aerial bombs weighing up to 500 kg, as well as with the FAB-50 high-explosive aerial bomb.
“Thunder” will be able to control a swarm of 10 small-sized drones “Lightning” in reconnaissance and strike configurations with the ability to change tasks for each member of the group.
In the sixth position is the heavy unmanned unmanned aerial vehicle S-70 “Okhotnik”. It is a stealth drone capable of autonomous operation. It can work in tandem with the Su-57 fighter, but if communication is broken, the drone will continue to carry out combat missions on its own. “Hunter” can be put into service in 2023, now it is being tested.
