UAVs in Russian Armed Forces: News #2

Grom spec.

All the UAV pictures at one place:

https://saidpvo.livejournal.com/979205.html

The Tu-95MS could carry 2 or even 4 Grom under her wings for greater range. Just an idea.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4122894.html

The Russian Ministry of Defense has signed a serial contract for the purchase of the Orion UAV

As RIA Novosti news agency reported on August 23, 2020, the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kronstadt company signed the first serial contract for the supply of Orion long-duration unmanned aerial vehicles. Nikolay Dolzhenkov, General Designer of the Kronstadt Group, told RIA Novosti. One of the prototypes of the Orion long-duration unmanned aerial vehicle (tail number 03), created by the Kronstadt Group, with samples of guided aircraft weapons on display at the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum. Kubinka, 08/24/2020 (с) bmpd

The first set of Orion UAVs was transferred to experimental military operation in April 2020.

"A contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense for serial deliveries of Orion UAVs has been signed - I cannot divulge the details of the agreement, I can only say that our machine is the only large-sized domestically developed drone that has passed the first stage of state tests," Nikolai Dolzhenkov said.

Dolzhenkov noted that following the results of the experimental military operation of the Orion, the military department asked to modify this UAV for "a number of additional capabilities." According to him, by the end of 2020 Orion should receive the letter O1.

The Orion UAV is Russia's first air reconnaissance complex with a long-duration unmanned aerial vehicle, corresponding to the international classification of the MALE class (medium-altitude long-endurance - medium-altitude long-endurance). The tasks of the complex are aerial reconnaissance and patrolling, determining the coordinates of ground and surface objects, topographic survey of the area.


On the part of bmpd, we recall that the creation of the Orion multipurpose (reconnaissance and strike) unmanned aerial vehicle of medium altitude and long flight duration (MALE class) "Orion" was carried out within the framework of the ROC "Inokhodets" under a contract with the Ministry of Defense of Russia, which is now part of AFK Sistema "The Kronstadt Group."

The contract for the creation of the UAS SD (Medium-Range Unmanned Aviation Complex) for the ROC "Inokhodets" was awarded on a competitive basis by the Ministry of Defense of Russia on October 14, 2011 to the Transas company (which then underwent a reorganization and received the name "Kronstadt", and in 2016 entered into AFK Sistema), which proposed the Orion project (Product 90). Orion is partly the Russian analogue of the American General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAV and has a similar appearance to the American vehicle.

Orion has a maximum take-off weight of 1000 kg and a payload mass of up to 200 kg. The length of the apparatus is 8 m, the wingspan is 16 m, the flight duration is 24 hours. The prototypes of the UAV are equipped with a Rotax 914 engine with a power of 86 kW (115 hp), equipped with a turbocharger to increase the altitude. The two-bladed AV-115 propeller with a diameter of 1.9 meters is manufactured by Aerosila. For serial production of UAVs, the Agat company, in cooperation with TsIAM, is developing the Russian APD-110/120 engine.

Flight tests of the first prototype UAV "Orion" (tail number "01") were launched in May 2016. UAV flight tests are carried out at the flight test base of the "Kronstadt" company, organized byat the Protasovo airfield in the Ryazan region. By the beginning of 2020, several prototypes of the Orion UAV were built, which were also tested by combat use in Syria. It is known that during the UAV tests at least two prototypes were lost .

In August 2019, at the MAKS-2019 air show, Kronstadt CEO Sergei Bogatikov said that serial production of Orion UAVs had begun, and that the first serial complex of these UAVs (ground control station and three vehicles) would be transferred to the Russian Ministry of Defense before the end 2019. In fact, the first complex was transferred to the Russian Ministry of Defense for trial operation in April 2020.

In October 2019, Nikolai Dolzhenkov, General Designer of the Kronshtadt Group, was awarded the N.V. Prize for the development of the first long-duration UAV Orion in Russia . Ogarkova.

The exposition of the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2020" in Kubinka presents one of the prototypes of a long-duration UAV "Orion" (tail number "03"), with samples of guided aircraft weapons proposed for use from it. The caption on the accompanying poster read that it was "an air reconnaissance complex with an unmanned aerial vehicle of long duration with the ability to perform reconnaissance and strike missions" Orion ".

The press release of the Kronstadt Group on the occasion of the Army-2020 forum states that “on August 23, the Kronstadt UAVs were exhibited at the Kubinka airfield. The exposition of the company for the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation for the defense-industrial complex Yuri Borisov was presented by the General Director of the company Sergey Bogatikov.

In particular, the Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated the Orion air reconnaissance complex with long-duration unmanned aerial vehicles, which was modernized, taking into account the experience of using at the training grounds of the Ministry of Defense.

The UAV has an increased carrying capacity, and it also moved to the reconnaissance and shock category. A weapon control system has been installed and tested on Orion - these are high-precision aircraft weapons with a caliber of 50 kg or more developed by Kronstadt and other domestic enterprises. "





https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4123212.html

Good. Orion proved itself and is worth the purchase. Hopefully company gets significantly more orders with not just MoD but with third nations too

owais.usmani wrote:All the UAV pictures at one place:

https://saidpvo.livejournal.com/979205.html

Thanks I am very shocked that they did not take a picture of the izdelie 85 but took images of other bombs. I was going to make a very good UAV article on quora but that bomb and the end of the expo date is whats stopping me because I don't want to edit later something I have missed.

Unmanned aerial vehicles "Sirius" and "Helios" in the exposition of the forum "Army-2020"

The Kronstadt Group at the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum in Kubinka presented full-size models of the Sirius and Helios long-duration unmanned aerial vehicles it is developing. A full-size mock-up of the Sirius long-duration twin-engine reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle with samples of aircraft weapons being developed by the Kronstadt Group on display at the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum. Kubinka, 08/24/2020 (с) bmpd

According to the press release of the Kronstadt Group, the Sirius UAV is the next stage in the development of the Orion UAV project with a take-off weight increased to 2 tons. With the help of the satellite communication system currently being developed, the Sirius' range of application will be limited only by the fuel supply on board and will be at least 1000 km from the base. The aircraft has several points of suspension of airborne weapons (AAS) and is capable of carrying up to 300 kg of dropped cargo. "

Regarding the UAV "Helios", the press release states that the "Helios-RLD" apparatus is being demonstrated at the "Army-2020" forum. This “drone with a takeoff weight of 4 tons and a wingspan of 30 meters is designed for long-term loitering (up to 30 hours or more days) at altitudes above 10,000 m. These characteristics, combined with a carrying capacity of 1 ton, will allow performing radar surveillance and surveillance missions. For this, the UAV is equipped with an airborne radar located at the bottom of the fuselage. Several such drones are capable of forming a continuous radar field in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. In addition, "Helios" can also carry out reconnaissance and air strikes. "


From the bmpd side, recallthat although the development of the Sirius UAV was first announced at the MAKS-2019 air show in August 2019, its layout is publicly demonstrated at the Army-2020 forum for the first time. The device is twin-engine with engines with pulling propellers in the wings - it can be assumed that the engines are similar to those used on the Orion UAV.

At the Army-2020 forum, the mock-up of the Sirius UAV is demonstrated as a "reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle of a long duration of flight", and with it mainly unguided aerial bombs are demonstrated - FAB-500-M-62, OFAB-250-270, RBK -500U and ODAB-500PMV (all developments of JSC NPO Basalt), as well as two bombs of its own design by JSC Kronshtadt based on the warhead of a 220-mm missile MLRS "Uragan" - an unguided bomb FAB-100 and an adjustable bomb KAB-100 ...

The mock-up of a heavier 5-tonne-class Helios UAV with a pusher-rotor turboprop was first demonstrated unnamed at the MAKS-2019 air show (where it was therefore mistakenly identified by observers as Sirius), and then was publicly shown during the visit of the Minister of Industry and Trade Russian Federation Denis Manturov for the pilot production of the Kronshtadt Group on the territory of JSC Chernyshev Moscow Machine-Building Enterprise in Moscow on August 17, 2020.

As can be judged, the Helios apparatus in terms of class is analogous to the American reconnaissance and strike UAVs General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, and, possibly, is created on a competitive basis with the skidding Kazan project of the large UAV Altius-U / Altair.







A full-size mock-up of the Sirius long-duration twin-engine reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle with samples of aircraft weapons being developed by the Kronstadt Group on display at the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum. Kubinka, 24.08.2020 (c) bmpd 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. FAB-500-M-62 NPO Bazalt JSC 22. FAB-100 Kronshtadt JSC based on MLRS shot Hurricane 23. KAB-100 JSC Kronstadt











A full-size mock-up of the Sirius long-duration twin-engine reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle with samples of aircraft weapons being developed by the Kronstadt Group on display at the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum. Kubinka, 24.08.2020 (c) Said Aminov / saidpvo.livejournal.com A full-size model of a long-duration unmanned aerial vehicle “Helios ” created by the Kronstadt Group in the version of the “Helios-RLD ” radar surveillance apparatus at the exposition of the International Military-Technical Forum “ Army-2020 ". Kubinka, 08.24.2020 (c) Said Aminov / saidpvo.livejournal.com




https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4123433.html

That KAB-100 looks interesting.

The large fins suggest it is a gliding weapon and the grid fin tail surfaces suggests it will be able to turn fairly sharp turns to hit its target... the very pointed nose suggests dropped from high altitude and reaching high speed... presumably the guidance would either be GLONASS or that pointy nose cone is ejected in flight and it is IR or laser mark homing...

Which drones will soon join the ranks of the Russian Aerospace Forces

The latest civil and military UAVs were presented by domestic developers at the Army-2020 forum. Today, in terms of the number of drones in service, Russia confidently bypasses the United States (excluding microdrones), and is second only to Israel.

It is worth noting that the first domestic experimental drone regiment was created back in 2011. Four years later, the number of drones in the Russian army reached 1,700 units, and today there are more than 2,000.

In the US army, the number of drones exceeds 11,000, which, it would seem, makes the Americans the undisputed leaders. However, the vast majority of these devices are microdrones like the Black Horne. If you do not take them into account, then according to the official data of the Pentagon, the number of "full-fledged" UAVs in the American army is only 660 units.

As for Russia, at the initial stages we created light reconnaissance vehicles such as Zastava, Granat, Pchela, Eleron-3SV with modest flight ranges of 10-25 km and an altitude of 2200 meters. Then, with the accumulation of experience, there appeared middle-class cars, such as the Orlan. The device is capable of operating within a radius of 120 km, being in flight for up to 14 hours and rising to an altitude of up to 5 km.

We also have heavy reconnaissance aircraft such as "Forpost-R" and "Orion", which cover up to 250 km and climb 7 km. Moreover, both vehicles are capable of carrying up to 300 kg of payload and stay in the air for up to 24 hours.

But where we are now far behind the United States is in heavy attack drones. However, this is temporary.

As early as next year, the armed forces of the Russian Federation will begin to receive universal and heavy vehicles of domestic production.
First of all, this is the Altius-U UAV, which has a take-off weight of about 6 tons and is capable of covering up to 10 thousand km, rising to an altitude of 12 km. It is followed by the S-70 "Okhotnik" - a strategic attack drone carrying up to 2.8 tons of combat load and capable of carrying out operations within a radius of 5 thousand km. At the same time, this drone can operate both independently and in tandem with a manned aircraft.

And, finally, a novelty presented at the Army-2020 forum called "Thunder". The latter is a 7-ton attack drone that will cover the Su-35 and Su-57 fighters from the enemy.

https://mobile.twitter.com/RALee85/status/1302371643663278085

700 drones making a choregraphy. Put some attack mode in them and you have 700 vehicles destroyed.

Very impressive, but the owner of that account is a dick.

Scroll down and he says that the Russians upgrading T-72s shows the Armata is in trouble... what a dick.

GarryB wrote:Very impressive, but the owner of that account is a dick.

Scroll down and he says that the Russians upgrading T-72s shows the Armata is in trouble... what a dick.

Here it is on youtube. The video starts within 20 seconds of the drone show



And directly from Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CExOVexit4b/

Nice bomb

Butowski about the UAVs presented at the Army 2020:

https://aviationweek.com/special-topics/air-dominance/russia-reveals-loyal-wingman-concept

Good information, as usually from him. For instance, he says the engine of the Okhotnik is called izd. 117BD and is a non-afterburner version of the Su-57's izd. 117.

LMFS wrote:Butowski about the UAVs presented at the Army 2020:

https://aviationweek.com/special-topics/air-dominance/russia-reveals-loyal-wingman-concept

Good information, as usually from him. For instance, he says the engine of the Okhotnik is called izd. 117BD and is a non-afterburner version of the Su-57's izd. 117.

Make absolutely sense, it's a fully developed engine in serial production with not any other use except the first batch of Su-57, so they would re-enter of investment done.

marcellogo wrote:Make absolutely sense, it's a fully developed engine in serial production with not any other use except the first batch of Su-57, so they would re-enter of investment done.

Sure, the higher the thrust the better, it is a relatively heavy plane for having only one engine. I was still entertaining the possibility that the new unified engine for the Flankers may be in fact derived from the 117 and not simply from 117S, which is an export-grade engine, or at least use its technology, as discussed the 117 was brought to serial production supposedly only for the Su-57 but in few years it will be substituted by the izd. 30, after a very short production run (1st Su-57 squadron will be formed only after 2023 and the second stage production probably begins right after that), so it makes a lot of sense that they use the engine in some other way. For the Okhotnik, the best solution would be an increased BPR version, I don't know if this 117BD also considers that or is simply the same engine without AB...

Lancet drone

Note the front fins are shaped like wings so essentially it is a biplane in terms of having four lifting surfaces extending range .

Likely a suicide drone...

GarryB wrote:Note the front fins are shaped like wings so essentially it is a biplane in terms of having four lifting surfaces extending range .

Likely a suicide drone...

It is a suicide drone, it was said so during original presentation couple of years ago

Grom

Sirius