Altius UAV program

Analysis of commercial satellite imagery indicates increased activity at a program of development of a new Russian Altius-M long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

The images show the new drone at the airfield in Kazan. The Altius-M is a long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle develops by reconnaissance missions and destroying targets that have been detected.

In 2011, the Tranzas won the Defense Ministry’s tender for the development of two kinds of heavy drones, the “Pacer” and Altius-M, which weigh 1 metric tons and 5 metric tons, respectively.

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http://defence-blog.com/news/new-russian-altius-m-long-range-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-spotted-at-the-airfield-in-kazan.html

The prototype of the unmanned aerial vehicle "Altair" will resume tests in 2017

As reported on March 6, 2017 by the news agency RNS, the development of an unmanned aircraft of the heavy class "Altair", which is conducted in the Design Bureau named after M. Simonov (Kazan), in 2017 will enter the decisive phase. This was reported by RNS source in the defense industry.

"Last year, an experimental model of a heavy drones created under this program performed a series of successful test flights. In December, flights were suspended. It is planned that in the spring and summer test flights will be continued by the first experimental devices, modified according to the results of flights of the prototype, "the source said.

According to him, in the high stage of readiness there are already two experimental devices.


The first prototype-demonstrator of the UAV "Altair" (Altius-M) in the assembly shop of KAPO-Composite JSC. Kazan, 03/25/2014 (с) The frame of the news program / militaryrussia.ru

"Thanks to the experimental model, the ground part of the unmanned complex, the control system, communications, take-off and landing schemes have been worked out," the agency's interlocutor said. He noted that the take-off and landing of heavy drones are fully automated, take place according to the developed software algorithm, with the possibility, if necessary, of the manual control of the operator from the ground.

In parallel with the manufacture of experimental vehicles, he said, the development of weapon systems for a new reconnaissance and impact drone is underway. "At the same time, the mass of the device allows you to place on it a number of existing weapons systems," the source said.

In the summer of 2016, the media reported the start of flights in Kazan, of the first Russian heavy-duty drones. Later, in the autumn, satellite images of the device on one of the Kazan airfields appeared on the Internet. According to experts, the mass of the new device is 5 tons. It is equipped with two diesel engines RED A03 / V12 takeoff power of about 500 liters. With propellers. The device can be in the air for two days without refueling. The maximum height is 12 km. The total length is about 12 m, and the wingspan is about 30 m. The maximum range is 10 thousand kilometers.

It was reported that a new drone can be used, in particular, to monitor the situation in the Arctic. It is planned that mass production will begin in 2018.

While Russia does not have devices of this class. Similar reconnaissance and strike drones are created and serially built only in USA.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2476676.html

two 500 hp engines and endurance of 48 hours??? no wayy. how much fuel does it cary.! just doesnt add up.

Rmf wrote:two 500 hp engines and endurance of 48 hours???  no wayy. how much fuel does it cary.! just doesnt add up.

It's all guesswork at this point but given that wingspan I would say that fuel tanks are pretty damn big.

Rmf wrote:two 500 hp engines and endurance of 48 hours???  no wayy. how much fuel does it cary.! just doesnt add up.

Actually flying at a very high altitude and a very low subsonic speed with prop engines could make it work. Flying at something like 210 km/h over a span of 48 hours will get you just over 10,000 km in range.

its not that heavy , it is 5t class.
propeller driven reaper is 4,8 tonns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper and 14 hours endurance , and it has 1 engine instead of fuel thirsty 2.
this thing does have longer wingspan 28m vs 20m.

those 2 engine consume 210 gr of fuel per kw/h each , 420 gr combined , while garret turboprop in reaper consumes 320 gr/kw/h.

that reaper turboprop is in fuselage so it makes no drag but it takes volume inside which then cant store fuel. i guess diesel have good efficiency at 20-30% cruise power  unlike gas turbine so thats the difference.

Well look who finally showed up....

Altus UAV

Its about time! 

I wish they release a video footage 

Dat wingspan

Definitely high altitude and long endurance.
Perhaps with maritime applications.

Don't think it is a UCAV. Although in theory it can drop Precision Guided bombs from high altitude.

I agree, it's strategic reconnaissance type most likely geared towards naval and arctic application, hence 2 props instead 1 or 2 jets.

And any tech from targeting pods will probably be integrated into the final product's body from the get go.

Smaller stuff like Orion will be used as UCAVs.

While strategic recoinance might be its primary role i find it very stupid not to exploit its advantages of long rage (we hope so) and high payload cappacity (we hope so) for strike roles too. So i sort of expect to see it being used as UCAV, if not as primary then as secondary role in times of need, with some maybe removable hardpoints.

When its about optronics package i was always fan of auxilary pods as you can very fast remove them, place something else, plug-and-play in case of malfunction etc, etc. Further modifications and modernisations are also quite alot easier that way. Naturally that works only with platforms of certain size that can deal with external payload.

Militarov wrote:While strategic recoinance might be its primary role i find it very stupid not to exploit its advantages of long rage (we hope so) and high payload cappacity (we hope so) for strike roles too. So i sort of expect to see it being used as UCAV, if not as primary then as secondary role in times of need, with some maybe removable hardpoints.

When its about optronics package i was always fan of auxilary pods as you can very fast remove them, place something else, plug-and-play in case of malfunction etc, etc. Further modifications and modernisations are also quite alot easier that way. Naturally that works only with platforms of certain size that can deal with external payload.

Well putting stuff on is easy if you have space and this thing definitely has it. USAF Global Hawk has no weapons so it would hardly be unusual.

Here is tech data:

Take-off weight of approx. 5 t, length 11.6 m, wingspan 28.5 m, approx. 2 tons, the maximum speed is unknown, the range is up to 10000km, the ceiling is up to 15000m, the maximum flight duration is up to 48h.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/92527/

Some call it Altus other call it Altair. So which is it?

PapaDragon wrote:

Militarov wrote:While strategic recoinance might be its primary role i find it very stupid not to exploit its advantages of long rage (we hope so) and high payload cappacity (we hope so) for strike roles too. So i sort of expect to see it being used as UCAV, if not as primary then as secondary role in times of need, with some maybe removable hardpoints.

When its about optronics package i was always fan of auxilary pods as you can very fast remove them, place something else, plug-and-play in case of malfunction etc, etc. Further modifications and modernisations are also quite alot easier that way. Naturally that works only with platforms of certain size that can deal with external payload.

Well putting stuff on is easy if you have space and this thing definitely has it. USAF Global Hawk has no weapons so it would hardly be unusual.

Here is tech data:

Take-off weight of approx. 5 t, length 11.6 m, wingspan 28.5 m, approx. 2 tons, the maximum speed is unknown, the range is up to 10000km, the ceiling is up to 15000m, the maximum flight duration is up to 48h.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/92527/

Some call it Altus other call it Altair. So which is it?

Armed global hawk was proposed but rejected due to availability of other platforms in US.

Apparently both names are legit.

Altius is shown in Kazan

So this comes in two sizes?

Also, Arctic marking.

Second Altius/Altair prototype unveiled

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/93663/