Even 10-15 years ago, stories about unmanned combat vehicles belonged to the category of science fiction. Of course, work in this direction has already been carried out, but it was still far from the implementation of projects. In 2005, Israel took the first step by sending literally toy airplanes with cameras to Syria. The planes returned with intelligence and a few hours later air defense the enemy was left with only horns and legs. Since then, combat drones have become much cooler. Take a look at these ten most dangerous UAVs modern world: from a small helicopter to an intercontinental strategic bomber.

Triton MQ-4C

A real giant among unmanned vehicles. The Triton MQ-4C was developed by Northrop Grumman for the Pentagon. The wingspan of this giant is comparable to that of a Boeing 747, but so far there is no exact information on the scope of the giant drone.

WU-14

A Chinese experimental hypersonic drone designed to deliver missiles across the continent. In fact, the Ministry of Defense of the PRC at one time declared the WU-14 as a "scientific aircraft", but subsequently recognized its military purpose. The WU-14 is the most powerful drone on our list, as it is designed to deliver nuclear weapons to a target.

CH-5

Chinese development, which can be called a modified clone of the American "Reaper of Death". The UAV was created by the military corporation China Aerospace Science and Technology and has already been tested in combat conditions. The drone is equipped with two new types of ammunition (what exactly is not yet known) and a laser guidance system.

Taranis

Until now, almost all information about the British intercontinental UAV project is classified. Only the main parameters of Taranis are known (weight - three tons, length - 11 meters, wingspan - 10 meters) and that the drone is equipped with stealth technology.

Northrop Grumman X-47BC

The brainchild of American geniuses from the famous Northrop Grumman. A combat UAV of the second generation is capable of taking off and landing without an operator at all, only with the help of an on-board computer. Wings equipped rocket launchers which are already controlled by a person from the earth.

IAI Harpy

This is a kamikaze drone designed to detect and destroy enemy manpower and armored forces. The drone swoops down on the target high altitude, hitting it with a high-explosive fragmentation projectile.

MQ-9 Reaper

Perhaps one of the most famous and deadliest drones in the world. "Reaper" came to replace the unmanned reconnaissance complex MQ-1 Predator. Reaper is able to take off to a height of thirteen kilometers, lift the entire 4.7 tons and stay in the air for a whole day. It will be very, very difficult to escape from such a steel predator.

outpost

In fact, the Russian Forpost is a slightly modified version of the Israeli Searcher 2, proven in battle. this moment these complexes are just beginning to enter the Russian Army, but are already being used in combat operations in Syria.

C Worker 5

Not only aircraft, but also ships are becoming unmanned. The UK has unveiled its C-Worker 5 boat, which can reach low speeds but stay on one tank of fuel for a whole week. The vessel is planned to be used for reconnaissance and trawling, last resort it can be blown up remotely and arrange something like sabotage.

S-100 Camcopter

The Australian company Schiebel introduced its unmanned helicopter back in 2005, but so far it has not lost its relevance at all. The S-100 Camcopter is able to track large enemy groups at a distance inaccessible to detection and is most often used as a reconnaissance aircraft. However, this screw kid also has “teeth”.

Military drones have attracted a lot of attention over the years, but few people get them right. Yes, most of their descriptions accurately describe how they are used in battle, but also often these stories give a false impression, ridiculous and not supported by facts. Here are ten of the most common misconceptions about military drones.


Virtually everyone calls a military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) a drone, but this is a misconception that offends their pilots (yes, they have pilots). The word "drone" is often associated with a quiet buzzing, which is why male bees are called drones. But using the word "drone" to describe the complex system being deployed on the modern battlefield is ridiculous and insulting to their operators.

"Drone" implies no involvement on the part of an expert operator, so the term is not widely used by the military. Outside of military affairs, the word "drone" is more commonly associated with quadcopters, small aircraft with remote control, which enthusiasts use for a variety of activities, including quadcopter racing, aerial photography, and just entertainment.

They are new to the military.


UAVs are not new to military weaponry, but it might surprise you that they were first used back in the 19th century! Austrian troops attacking Italy in 1849 approached Venice armed with 200 balloons. These balls were fitted with timed fuse bombs. Their success was not complete, as many balloons were blown back to the Austrian front lines, but some did achieve their goals. This is the first example of the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle in military operations.

Since then, remotely controlled vehicles have been developed and used in many armed forces. different countries. Until GPS became a widespread technology that allowed devices to be controlled from a satellite anywhere in the world, they were controlled using a radio channel.

Few people manage them.


One of the biggest disadvantages of manned aircraft is the total number of people required to fly them. We need pilots, co-pilots, crew on board and others, depending on the type of transport. In addition, people are needed to fuel the vehicle, move it, maintain and repair it, and even store it when no one is using it.

In fact, they are not very different. Moreover, sometimes they require even more people to operate than most manned vehicles. In addition to the people who maintain and operate the craft, there are operators of every sensor and camera on board. For comparison, it takes about 100 people to control the F-16, Predator - 168, and Reaper - 180. But these are American UAV systems.

They rarely break and require minimal support.


The operation of any military apparatus is an expensive pleasure, and in this regard, UAVs are not much different. At the same time, UAVs have a serious problem: they often crash. Of course, it is better to lose an unmanned vehicle than a manned one, because in the first case there is no need to search and rescue pilots. However, the military does not really like it when their technology falls into the clutches of the enemy, so crashed UAVs also often require a mission to retrieve the wreckage or the final destruction of the fallen device.

Since 2004, the number of UAV accidents has steadily increased, possibly due to increased operating hours and general fatigue of systems that were actively used in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2004 there were only nine accidents, and in 2012 there were already twenty-six. Many accidents are the result of hostile actions aimed at destroying the craft, and many more fall from the sky for unknown or unspecified reasons.

If their communication is disrupted, they will fall


Most UAVs use satellite communications, which are difficult to disrupt. It is very difficult, almost impossible, to confuse them from the ground, since all their communication goes up in a thin beam. If the communication systems of the drone are broken, it switches to autopilot until it restores communication with the operator.

Commercial drones are much easier to confuse because their communications are based on radio communications, so increasing power at their operating frequency tends to cause communications to fail. When it comes to military drones, things are much more complicated.

Deliberate communication failure is a dangerous undertaking, since it requires a large amount of energy to operate the equipment. Various rigs already exist and people make projects like "rifles" themselves when they want to shoot down a commercial drone, but we don't recommend using them.

They can stay in the air for a short period of time


This misconception may be due to the relatively short duration flights that commercial drones and drones can support. Most quadcopters can stay in the air for 15 minutes, and very few can stay in the air for twice as long. The main reason for this is energy storage and consumption. Most commercial drones are small and powered by an onboard battery. Almost all UAVs, however, carry fuel like a conventional aircraft. Therefore, they can stay in the air much longer than their civilian counterparts.

Predator, one of the most used UAVs in combat, can stay in the air for 27 hours. The Russian counterpart Dozor-600, intended for similar purposes (currently under development), can remain in the air for up to 30 hours. Global Observer Stratospheric Persistent has recently developed an UAV that can stay in the air for up to 168 hours due to its high operating altitude (20,000 meters) and the use of liquid hydrogen as fuel.

Anyone can fly a drone (like in a video game)


Although there is an opinion that a good gamer (a person who plays video games) can be a good operator UAV, it will not necessarily work in the opposite direction. Most UAVs will deny this, and many of them have even recorded and explained in detail why drone control has little to do with a video game. Most of the UAVs that are in use by the army are difficult to fly, like any other aircraft, and require a well-trained and skilled pilot. Some games may duplicate this to some extent, but very few people who are good at Microsoft Flight Simulator will be able to sit in a cockpit for eight hours without a break.

Another important difference is that the UAV pilot can attack and destroy the target, which may well be a living, breathing person. No video game comes close to completing such a mission (don't confuse the virtual with the real).

They have "cleanup lists"


The main purpose of almost all UAVs is reconnaissance and security. During operation, they are "eyes in the sky" and are used to ensure the safety of the headquarters working on the spot. Of course, some drones are equipped with weapons and are used to destroy targets; but that is not their main mission. In fact, they do not have any "cleansing lists" in which the targets presented for destruction are indicated by name.

In order for an UAV to open fire on any target, it must first identify and verify it, and then the ground commander will make the decision to shoot or not. Unfortunately, there are also erroneous decisions, as in the case of manned aircraft, and civilian targets are mistakenly attacked. That is why the opinion appeared that UAVs perform the task regardless of decisions on the ground, that is, they destroy the target without definition, regardless of the situation.

The military maintains lists of high-ranking targets, but they are not loaded on board the vehicle and are considered as possible targets.

They are autonomous


As we have already found out, almost all UAVs need qualified operators who can control the device and use its various systems. They can hardly be considered autonomous, although some flight operations are supported by computers, like the autopilot that every commercial airliner is equipped with today.

While it can be said that the military is not currently operating autonomous killer robots, as many people think, no one is saying that this will not be the case in the future. Currently, for example, the US Navy and Army are exploring the possibility of creating autonomous drones due to a shortage of pilots, and DARPA has been tasked with developing a set of six aircraft that can "jointly locate, track, identify and engage targets."

They are made for one purpose: to kill


Most of the drones in service with the armies of different countries are used for aerial reconnaissance or observation in one form or another. The same Predator was developed for these tasks until the conflict in Iraq began. Fleets of small craft have never been and are unlikely to be armed due to their size and other missions.

But what will happen next is still unknown. Many countries are developing UAVs specifically for combat purposes. In 2013, Boeing was able to upgrade the F-16, which is normally flown by two people, to become fully unmanned. The lack of personnel in the cockpit allowed the vehicle to reach accelerations of 9G, which would have been incredibly dangerous for humans.

In addition, UAV helicopters with machine guns are being developed, as well as stealth and other types of combat vehicles. The future of drone warfare looks set to make all our delusions a reality.

Resembling giant stingrays, combat remote-controlled strike drones are considered one of the strangest flying systems ever invented by man. They represent the next evolutionary step in the art of war, as they will definitely soon become the vanguard of any modern air force, as they have a lot of undeniable advantages in frontal combat, especially when dealing with a strong symmetrical opponent.

Lessons that hardly anyone is taught

Essentially seen as a means of getting crews out of danger in areas with dense air defenses, where the chances of survival are not so great, attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are essentially the brainchild of countries with strong defense industries and solid annual budgets and often with high moral standards regarding the cost of the lives of its soldiers. In the past few years, the United States, Europe and Russia have been actively developing subsonic stealth UAVs, followed by China, always ready to copy and adapt everything that is invented in the world.

These new weapons systems are very different from the MALE (medium-altitude, long-range) drones that everyone sees around the clock on their TV screens and which are built by well-known Israeli and American companies, such as IAI and General Atomics, which are today excellent experts in the field, by the well-researched Ryan Aero with its BQM-34 Firebee remotely controlled jet aircraft… 60 years ago.

Probing the future of dogfighting: The Rafale fighter accompanies the Neuron strike drone, designed to break through heavily defended airspace. Due to the superior combat effectiveness of the new generation of surface-to-air missiles, only such stealthy attack UAVs (with a low effective scattering area) will be able to close in on a ground target and destroy it with a high probability of hitting and return home to prepare for the next battle.

UAVs are not just "armed" drones, as it might seem, even if today it is customary to attribute UAVs like the armed MQ-1 Predator or MQ-9 Reaper, for example, to percussion systems. This is a completely misused term. Indeed, in addition to participating in offensive operations in safe or allied-controlled airspace, UAVs are completely unable to pass through battle formations properly manned opponent systems.

A visit to the Aerospace Museum in Belgrade acts as a real revelation in this area. In 1999, during NATO operations in Yugoslavia, at least 17 American RQ-1 Predators were shot down by either MiG fighters or Strela MANPADS missiles. Even despite their discretion, once discovered, MALE drones are doomed and will not survive even an hour. It is worth recalling that in the same campaign, the Yugoslav army destroyed an American F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft. For the first time in the history of military aviation, an aircraft that was not detected by radar and was considered invulnerable was shot down.

For the only time in its entire combat service, the F-117 was discovered and shot down, and on a moonless night (there were only three such nights in the five-week war) by a missile of the antique S-125 air defense system Soviet-made. But the Yugoslavs were not a rabble of marginals with primitive ideas about the art of war like Islamic state(ISIS, banned in Russia) or the Taliban, they were highly trained and cunning professional soldiers able to adapt to new threats. And they have proven it.

The Northrop Grumman X-47B UAV prototype took another historic step on May 17, 2013, making several landings with immediate takeoff after touching down on nuclear aircraft carrier"George Bush", standing off the coast of Virginia

Military aviation is only a hundred years old, but it is already replete with spectacular inventions, the latest ones include attack unmanned aerial vehicles or combat drones. Over a century, the idea of ​​air combat has changed radically, especially since the end of Vietnam War. air battles The use of machine guns to destroy the enemy in the First and Second World Wars has now become a page of history, and the advent of second-generation air-to-air missiles has turned guns into a rather outdated tool for this task, and now they are only useful as auxiliary weapons. for shelling the ground from the air.

Today, this trend is reinforced by the advent of hypersonic maneuverable missiles for engaging targets beyond the range of visual visibility, which, when launched in large numbers and in tandem with missiles of the wing aircraft, for example, leave almost no chance for evasive maneuver to any enemy flying at high altitude.

The situation is the same with modern ground-to-air weapons controlled by an instantaneously reacting network-centric air defense computer system. Indeed, the level of combat effectiveness of modern missiles, which easily enter well-defended airspace, has become higher than ever in our days. Perhaps the only panacea for this is aircraft and cruise missiles with a reduced effective reflection area (EPO) or low-flying attack weapons with the mode of flying around and around the terrain at extremely low altitude.

In April 2015, the X-47B demonstrated not only a convincing ability to operate from an aircraft carrier, but it also proved its ability to refuel in the air. The second participant in this event over the Chesapeake Bay was the Boeing KC-707 tanker. This is a real premiere for the UAV, as this test marked the first in-flight refueling of an unmanned aircraft.

At the turn of the new millennium, American pilots began to think about what could be done with remotely piloted aircraft, which had become quite a fashionable topic after its expanded use in military operations. As entry into well-defended airspace became more and more dangerous and involved great risk to combat pilots, even those flying the latest jet fighter-bombers, the only way The solution to this problem was the use of weapons used outside the reach of enemy weapons, and / or the creation of low-observable strike drones with high subsonic speed, capable of disappearing into the air through the use of special radar avoidance technologies, including radar absorbing materials and advanced jamming modes.

A new type of remotely controlled attack drones using data transmission channels with enhanced frequency hopping encryption should be able to enter the protected "sphere" and set the work to air defense systems without risking the lives of flight crews. Their excellent maneuverability with increased g-forces (up to +/-15 g!) allows them to remain somewhat invulnerable to manned interceptors…

Aside the philosophy of "deny access / block zone"

With two advanced stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit, presented with great fanfare and splurge, the first in 1988 and the second a decade later, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA and the US Air Force played an important role in to this new technology was successfully implemented and demonstrated its advantages in combat conditions. Although the stealthy F-117 tactical strike aircraft has now been retired, some of the technological developments gained from the development of this unusual aircraft (which periodically became the object of indignation of zealous adherents of aesthetics) were applied to new projects, such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, and to an even greater extent in the promising bomber B-21 (LRS-B). One of the most secret programs that the United States is implementing is related to the further development of the UAV family using radar absorbing materials and modern technologies for actively providing extremely low visibility.

Building on the UAV technology demonstration programs of the Boeing X-45 and Northrop Grumman X-47, whose achievements and results remain largely classified, Boeing's Phantom Works division and Northrop Grumman's secret division continue to develop attack drones today. A special mystery is shrouded in the RQ-180 UAV project, apparently being developed by Northrop Grumman. It is assumed that this platform will enter the closed airspace and conduct constant reconnaissance and surveillance, while simultaneously performing the tasks of active electronic suppression of enemy manned aircraft. A similar project is being implemented by the Skunks Works division of Lockheed Martin.

In the process of developing the SR-72 hypersonic vehicle, issues are being resolved safe work reconnaissance UAV in protected airspace, both through the use of its own speed, and through advanced radar absorbing materials. Promising UAVs designed to break through modern (Russian) integrated air defense systems are also being developed by General Atomics; its new Avenger drone, also known as the Predator C, includes many innovative stealth elements. In fact, it is vital for the Pentagon today, as ever, to stay ahead of what Russia creates in order to maintain the current military imbalance in favor of Washington. And for the United States, the impact drone is becoming one of the means to ensure this process.

A Dassault Neuron drone returns to Istres Air Force Base from a night flight, 2014. Flight tests of the Neuron in France, as well as in Italy and Sweden in 2015, demonstrated its excellent flight and visibility characteristics, but all of them still remain classified. Armed drone Neuron is not the only European program to demonstrate UAV technology. BAE Systems is implementing the Taranis project, it has almost the same design and is equipped with the same RR Adour engine as the Neuron drone.

What the developers of American UAVs today call "protected airspace" is one of the components of the concept of "denial of access / blocking the zone" or a single (integrated) air defense system successfully deployed today by the Russian armed forces, both in Russia itself and abroad. its borders in order to provide cover for the expeditionary forces. No less smart and savvy than American military developers, although with significantly less money, Russian researchers from the Nizhny Novgorod Research Institute of Radio Engineering (NNIIRT) created a mobile two-coordinate radar station with a circular view of the meter range (from 30 MHz to 1 GHz) P-18 ( 1RL131) "Terek". The latest versions of this station with their specific frequency ranges can detect F-117 and B-2 bombers from several hundred kilometers, and this remains no mystery to Pentagon experts!

A Taranis UAV at an air base in England, with a Typhoon fighter in the background, 2015. With almost the same size and proportions as Neuron, Taranis, however, is more rounded and does not have weapon bays.

Starting in 1975, NNIIRT developed the first three-coordinate radar station capable of measuring the height, range and azimuth of a target. As a result, the surveillance radar 55ZH6 "Sky" of the meter range appeared, the deliveries of which to the armed forces of the USSR began in 1986. Later, after the demise of the Warsaw Pact, NNIIRT designed the 55Zh6 Nebo-U radar, which became part of the S-400 Triumf long-range air defense system currently deployed around Moscow. In 2013, NNIIRT announced the next model 55Zh6M Nebo-M, in which VHF and UHF radars are combined in a single module.

With vast experience in the development of high-end systems for detecting stealth targets, the Russian industry is currently very active and offers new digital versions of the P-18 radar to its allies, which can often simultaneously perform the functions of a control radar air traffic. Also, Russian engineers have created new digital mobile radar systems "Sky UE" and "Sky SVU" on a modern element base, all with the ability to detect subtle targets. Similar complexes for the formation of unified air defense systems were later sold to China, while Beijing got at its disposal a good irritant for the US military.

The radar systems are expected to be deployed in Iran to defend against any Israeli attack on its fledgling nuclear industry. All new Russian radars are solid-state active phased array antennas capable of operating in fast sector/path scanning mode or traditional circular scanning mode with mechanically rotating antennas. The Russian idea of ​​integrating three radars, each of which operates in a separate range (meter, decimeter, centimeter), is undoubtedly a breakthrough and is aimed at obtaining the possibility of detecting objects with extremely small signs of visibility.

Mobile two-coordinate all-round radar P-18

Meter radar module from the complex 55ZH6ME "Nebo-ME"

RLC 55ZH6M "Nebo-M"; decimeter radar module RLM-D

The Nebo-M radar system itself is radically different from previous Russian systems, since it has good mobility. Its design was originally designed to avoid unexpected blitz destruction. American fighters F-22A Raptor (armed with GBU-39 / B SDB bombs or JASSM cruise missiles), whose primary task is the destruction of low-frequency detection systems Russian system Air defense in the first minutes of the conflict. The 55ZH6M Nebo-M mobile radar complex includes three different radar modules and one signal processing and control machine.

Three radar modules of the Nebo M complex are: RDM-M of the meter range, a modification of the Nebo-SVU radar; RLM-D decimeter range, modification of the radar "Opponent-G"; RLM-S centimeter range, modification of the Gamma-S1 radar. The system uses state-of-the-art digital moving target indicator and digital pulse-Doppler radar technologies, as well as a spatiotemporal data processing method, which provides air defense systems such as the S-300, S-400 and S-500 with amazingly fast response, accuracy and the power of action against all targets, except for subtle ones flying at extremely low altitudes.

As a reminder, one S-400 complex deployed Russian troops in Syria, was able to close the circular zone around Aleppo with a radius of about 400 km for access by allied aviation. The complex, armed with a combination of at least 48 missiles (from 40N6 long-range to 9M96 medium range), capable of dealing with 80 targets at the same time ... In addition, he keeps the Turkish F-16 fighters in good shape and keeps them from reckless actions in the form of an attack on the Su-24 in December 2015, since the zone controlled by the S-400 air defense system partially captures southern border of Turkey.

For the United States, the research of the French company Onera, published in 1992, was a complete surprise. They talked about the development of a 4D (four-coordinate) RIAS radar (Synthetic Antenna and Impulse Radar - an antenna with a synthetic aperture of pulsed radiation), based on the use of a transmitting antenna array (simultaneous emission of a set of orthogonal signals) and a receiving antenna array (formation of a sampled signal in processing equipment signals providing Doppler frequency filtering, including spatiotemporal beamforming and target detection).

The 4D principle allows the use of fixed sparse antenna arrays operating in the meter band, thus providing excellent Doppler separation. The great advantage of low frequency RIAS is that it generates a stable, unreduced effective target area, provides a larger coverage area and better beam analysis, as well as improved localization accuracy and target selectivity. Enough to fight low-profile targets on the other side of the border...

China, the world champion in copying Western and Russian technologies, has made an excellent copy of the modern UAV, in which the external elements of the European Taranis and Neuron drones are well traced. First flown in 2013, Li-Jian (Sharp Sword) was developed jointly by Shenyang Aerospace University and Hongdu (HAIG). Obviously, this is one of two AVIC 601-S models that have moved beyond the show model. "Sharp Sword" with a wingspan of 7.5 meters has a jet engine (apparently, a turbofan of Ukrainian origin)

Creation of inconspicuous UAVs

Well-informed about a new effective barring system that would counter Western manned aircraft in wartime, the Pentagon settled at the turn of the century on a new generation of stealth jet-powered flying wing attack drones. New unmanned vehicles with low visibility will be similar in shape to a stingray, tailless with a body smoothly turning into wings. They will have a length of approximately 10 meters, a height of one meter and a wingspan of about 15 meters (the naval version is suitable for standard American aircraft carriers).

The drones will be able to either carry out surveillance missions lasting up to 12 hours, or carry weapons weighing up to two tons up to 650 nautical miles, cruising at a speed of about 450 knots, which is ideal for suppressing enemy air defenses or launching a first strike. A few years earlier, the US Air Force brilliantly paved the way for the use of armed drones. UAV RQ-1 Predator category MALE with piston engine, which first took off in 1994, became the first remotely controlled aerial platform capable of delivering air-to-ground weapons to the target with high accuracy. As a technologically advanced combat drone armed with two anti-tank missiles AGM-114 Hellfire, adopted by the Air Force in 1984, it has been successfully deployed in the Balkans, Iraq and Yemen, as well as in Afghanistan. Undoubtedly vigilant sword of Damocles over the heads of terrorists around the world!

Developed with funds from the secret DARPA fund, the Boeing X-45A became the first “purely” strike drone to fly. He is pictured dropping a GPS-guided bomb for the first time in April 2004.

If Boeing was the first creator of the X-45 UAV capable of dropping a bomb, then the US Navy did not engage in practical work on UAVs until 2000. Then he issued contracts to Boeing and Northrop Grumman for a program to study this concept. The design requirements for a maritime UAV included operation in a corrosive environment, takeoff and landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier and related maintenance, integration into command and control systems, as well as resistance to high electromagnetic interference inherent in aircraft carrier operating conditions.

The fleet was also interested in purchasing UAVs for reconnaissance missions, in particular for penetrating into protected airspace in order to identify targets for subsequent attacks on them. Northrop Grumman's X-47A Pegasus, which became the basis for the development of the X-47B J-UCAS platform, first flew in 2003. The US Navy and Air Force implemented their own programs by UBLA. The Navy selected the Northrop Grumman X-47B platform as the UCAS-D unmanned combat system demonstrator. In order to conduct realistic tests, the company manufactured a device of the same size and mass as the planned production platform, with a full-size weapons bay capable of accepting existing missiles.

The X-47B prototype was rolled out in December 2008, and taxiing with its own engine took place for the first time in January 2010. The first flight of the X-47B drone, capable of semi-autonomous operation, took place in 2011. Later, he took part in real sea trials aboard aircraft carriers, performing tasks together with F-18F Super Hornet carrier-based fighters and refueling in the air from the KS-707 tanker. What can I say, a successful premiere in both areas.

A demonstrator of the X-47B strike drone being unloaded from the side lift of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN77), May 2013. Like all US Navy fighters, the X-47B has folding wings.

Bottom view of the UAV Northrop Grumman X-47B, demonstrating its very futuristic contours. The drone with a wingspan of about 19 meters is equipped with a Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engine. It represents the first step towards a fully operational maritime strike drone, which is scheduled to appear on the list of regular aircraft after 2020.

While the American industry was already testing the first models of its UAVs with might and main, other countries, albeit with a ten-year delay, began to create similar systems. Among them are the Russian RAC "MiG" with the device "Skat" and the Chinese CATIC with a very similar "Dark Sword". In Europe, the British company BAE Systems went its own way with the Taranis project, while other countries joined forces to develop a project with the rather apt name nEUROn. In December 2012, nEUROn made its first flight in France. Flight tests for operating ranges and evaluating stealth characteristics were successfully completed in March 2015. These tests were followed by avionics tests in Italy, which were completed in August 2015. At the end of last summer, the last stage of flight tests took place in Sweden, within the framework of which tests were carried out on the use of weapons. Classified test results are called positive.

The contract for the nEUROn project worth 405 million euros is being implemented by several European countries, including France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. This allowed the European industry to begin a three-year phase of refining the concept and design of the system, with related research into visibility and data rate enhancement. This phase was followed by a development and assembly phase ending with first flight in 2011. In two years of flight testing, about 100 sorties were made, including the release of a laser-guided bomb. The initial budget of 400 million euros in 2006 increased by 5 million because a modular bomb bay was added, including a target designator and the laser-guided bomb itself. France at the same time paid half of the total budget.

With a pair of 250 kg bombs stowed in a modular bomb bay, a Neuron drone takes off from an airfield in Swedish Lapland, summer 2016. Then the capabilities of this UAV as a bomber were successfully assessed. You can see the rarely seen registration designation F-ZWLO (LO stands for small EPO) applied to the door of the front landing gear compartment

A 250 kg bomb dropped by a Neuron drone over a test site in Sweden in the summer of 2015. Five bombs were dropped, confirming Neuron's ability as a stealthy strike drone. Some of these real-life tests were carried out under the supervision of Saab, which, along with Dassault, Aiema, Airbus DS, Ruag and HAI, is implementing this advanced UAV program, which is likely to culminate in the creation of a promising air strike system FCAS (Future Combat Air System) around 2030

The potential of the British-French UAV

In November 2014, the governments of France and the UK announced a two-year study into the feasibility of a €146 million advanced strike drone project. This may lead to the implementation of a stealth UAV program, which will combine the experience of the Taranis and nEUROn projects in order to create a single promising strike drone. Indeed, in January 2014, at the British air base Brize Norton, Paris and London signed a statement of intent on a promising strike air system FCAS (Future Combat Air System).

Since 2010, Dassault Aviation, together with its partners Alenia, Saab and Airbus Defense & Space, has been working on the nEUROn project, and BAE Systems on its own Taranis project. Both flying wing craft are powered by the same Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan engine. The decision adopted in 2014 gives a new impetus to joint research already being implemented in this direction. It is also important step on the way to British-French cooperation in the field of military aircraft construction. It is possible that it could become the basis for another first-class achievement like the Concorde aircraft project. This decision will undoubtedly contribute to the development of this strategic area, since UAV projects will help maintain technological experience in the aviation industry at the level of world standards.

Drawing of what could turn into a promising drum air system FCAS (Future Combat Air System). The project is being developed jointly by the UK and France based on the experience of implementing the Taranis and Neuron projects. New undetectable strike drone may not appear before 2030

Meanwhile, the European FCAS program and similar American UAV programs are facing certain difficulties, since defense budgets on both sides of the Atlantic are quite tight. It will take more than 10 years before stealth UAVs begin to take over from manned combat aircraft, performing high-risk missions. Experts in the field of military unmanned systems are confident that the air force will begin to deploy stealth attack drones no earlier than 2030.

In modern armies of the world, UAVs are used - unmanned aerial vehicles. They are used in two directions - for reconnaissance and direct attack of enemy targets. The question of the ethics of warfare involving such machines still remains relevant, but in reality, drones are still used without restrictions.

History of military drones

Aircraft for warfare began to be used as early as the 19th century. The first progenitor of modern combat drones is considered to be balloons for dropping air bombs. The development of unmanned vehicles began in the 30s in the United States, and the Second World War gave a new impetus to the development of technology.

At that time, the Americans had a project to re-equip the B-17 bombers, which would allow them to be controlled remotely via a radio signal. The plane could not take off on its own - this required a flight mechanic and a pilot, who then ejected from the side.

The unmanned B-17 was followed by an escort aircraft, from which the drone was controlled via television and radio communications. 17 machines were converted, of which only one completed the task. After that, the project was closed and did not return to it until the mid-60s.

The British during World War II also tried to use drones. They created the Interstate TDR-1 torpedo bomber, designed to destroy enemy ships. In 1942, they were tested and it was instructed to create 18 attack squadrons from 1000 vehicles. However, soon the enemy fleet was destroyed by conventional aircraft, and therefore the need for such developments disappeared.

Advantages and disadvantages of combat drones

Advantages:

  • small size, reducing the cost of devices;
  • no casualties among the personnel;
  • difficulty in detection and destruction;
  • transmission of information in real time;
  • performance of reconnaissance, corrective and combat missions;
  • quick training of control operators;
  • high mobility and combat readiness.

Flaws:

  • “dampness” of technology - the problems of landing, control, and rescue of equipment have not been fully resolved;
  • small range and low autonomy;
  • flexibility and reliability are lower (compared to conventional aircraft);
  • in peacetime, in many regions, the flight of such aircraft is prohibited.

Application history

The first successful use of military drones is considered 1983. Then, during the Lebanese war, the Israeli army with the help of UAVs destroyed 86 aircraft of the Syrian army and 18 air defense batteries. After this demonstration, states took a fresh look at the capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Since the 90s, the leadership in the production of military quadcopters has passed to the Americans. Such devices were actively used during Operation Desert Storm and during the bombing of Yugoslavia. In 2002, with the help of an assault drone, the Americans destroyed a car in which one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda was driving - after that, the US Army began to actively use drones specifically to destroy militants, their bases and strongholds.

As for the use of such machines by Russia, the problem began to be seriously solved only after the eight-day war with Georgia in August 2008. The Russian army uses two drones - "Orlan" and "Outpost", which have passed the baptism of fire in Syria.

Application possibilities

Depending on the type of machine, it can perform the following tasks:

  • Intelligence service. The main purpose of the UAV.
  • Data transfer to the control center online.
  • Guidance of missiles and artillery on enemy positions.
  • EW - jamming the enemy's communication channel.
  • Retransmission. With the help of several drones, you can create a chain along which an encrypted signal will be transmitted.
  • Dumping bombs and launching missiles from the side.
  • As a target during exercises to repel an attack by means of air defense.

Problems of combat use of UAVs

The United States is the most active user of combat drones; they are mainly used in the course of hostilities and anti-terrorist operations in the Middle East. For example, in 2011, military drones discovered Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan. With the outbreak of the war in Syria, the same devices helped in the detection and destruction of Jihadi John, who became famous for posting videos of people being beheaded online. How many people died from the actions of drones is unknown. For example, according to the CIA, in 2004-2016, up to 4 thousand people died from the actions of American drones in Pakistan, of which 1 thousand were civilians.

The problem of warfare with the use of UAVs is being discussed in the world. Main reason - a large number of casualties among the local population. Other issues include:

  • "The Illusion of Permissiveness". Does the command have the moral right to use drones to destroy people?
  • There is a lot of turnover among the management operators, the main reason is the pangs of conscience due to the killing of people.
  • Artificial intelligence (neural network) is used to control and recognize targets, some are afraid of the “rebellion of machines”.
  • AI often cannot tell combatant from civilian. For example, combat drones destroy children who play with toy guns.
  • The neural network is not able to distinguish between a combatant and a prisoner of war who no longer offers resistance and wants to surrender.
  • Availability of technology. Terrorists can buy a quadcopter on the black market and use it for their own purposes. Recent examples include massive ISIS drone attacks on military bases and airfields in Syria.
  • Terrorists can use civilian models drones for carrying out acts in the cities of Europe and the USA. For example - to spray toxic or radioactive substances over mass gatherings of people.
  • The legal aspects of the use of such machines have not yet been resolved. Accordingly, operators can be convicted.

The most dangerous military drones

WU-14. Chinese machine, which was originally positioned as a "scientific apparatus", but was later recognized as a military drone. Designed for ultra-long flights, it can deliver nuclear weapons to another continent.

Taranis. Secret development of the British military-industrial complex. It is known that the device is equipped with a stealth system, applicable for intercontinental flights.

X-47 B C. American development. Autonomous take-off and landing, missiles are installed under the wings, which are launched by the operator from the headquarters.

Conducting work on the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is considered one of the most promising courses in the development of current combat aviation. The use of UAVs or drones has already led to important changes in the tactics and strategy of military conflicts. Moreover, it is believed that in the very near future their significance will increase significantly. Some military experts believe that the positive shift in the development of drones is the most important achievement in the aviation industry of the last decade.

However, drones are used not only for military purposes. Today they are actively involved in the "national economy". With their help, aerial photography, patrols, geodetic surveys, monitoring of a wide variety of objects are carried out, and some even deliver purchases home. However, the most promising developments of new drones today are carried out for military purposes.

With the help of UAVs, many tasks are solved. Mainly, it is reconnaissance. Most of the modern drones were created for this purpose. IN last years there are more and more unmanned aerial vehicles. Drones-kamikaze can be distinguished as a separate category. Drones can conduct electronic warfare, they can be radio repeaters, spotters for artillery, air targets.

For the first time, attempts to create aircraft that were not controlled by man were made immediately with the advent of the first airplanes. However, their practical implementation took place only in the 70s of the last century. After that, a genuine “drone boom” began. Remotely controlled aircraft technology for quite a long time could not be realized, but today it is produced in abundance.

As often happens, American companies are in the lead in the creation of drones. And this is not surprising, because the funding from the American budget for the creation of drones was simply astronomical by our standards. So during the 90s, three billion dollars were spent on similar projects, while in 2003 alone, more than one billion was spent on them.

Nowadays, work is underway to create the latest drones with a longer flight duration. The devices themselves should be heavier and solve problems in a difficult environment. Drones are being developed to combat ballistic missiles, unmanned fighters, microdrones capable of operating as part of large groups(swarms).

Work on the development of drones is underway in many countries around the world. More than one thousand companies are involved in this industry, but the most promising developments go straight to the military.

Drones: advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of unmanned aerial vehicles are:

  • A significant reduction in size in comparison with conventional aircraft (LA), leading to a reduction in cost, increasing their survivability;
  • The potential to create small UAVs that could perform a wide variety of tasks in combat areas;
  • Ability to conduct reconnaissance and transmit information in real time;
  • The absence of restrictions on use in an extremely difficult combat situation associated with the risk of their loss. When conducting critical operations, it is easy to sacrifice several drones;
  • Reduction (by more than one order of magnitude) of peacetime flight operations that traditional aircraft would require, preparing flight crews;
  • The presence of high combat readiness and mobility;
  • The potential to create small, uncomplicated mobile drone systems for non-aviation formations.

The disadvantages of UAVs include:

  • Insufficient flexibility of use in comparison with traditional aircraft;
  • Difficulties in resolving issues with communications, landing, rescue vehicles;
  • In terms of reliability, drones are still inferior to conventional aircraft;
  • Restriction of drone flights during peacetime.

A bit from the history of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

The first remote-controlled aircraft was the Fairy Queen, built in 1933 in the UK. He was a target aircraft for fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft guns.

And the first serial drone that participated in a real war was the V-1 rocket. This German "wonder weapon" bombarded Great Britain. In total, up to 25,000 units of such equipment were manufactured. The V-1 had a pulse jet engine and an autopilot with route data.

After the war, unmanned intelligence systems were developed in the USSR and the USA. Soviet drones were reconnaissance aircraft. With their help, aerial photography, electronic intelligence, as well as relaying were carried out.

Israel has done a lot for the development of drones. Since 1978, they have had the first IAI Scout drone. In the 1982 Lebanese war, the Israeli army completely defeated the Syrian air defense system with the help of drones. As a result, Syria lost almost 20 air defense batteries and almost 90 aircraft. This affected the attitude military science to the UAV.

The Americans used UAVs in Desert Storm and in the Yugoslav campaign. In the 90s, they also became leaders in the development of drones. So since 2012, they have had almost 8 thousand UAVs of various modifications. Basically, these were small army reconnaissance drones, but there were also strike UAVs.

The first one in 2002 missile attack killed one of the heads of al-Qaeda by car. Since then, the use of UAVs to eliminate the enemy's PMD or its units has become commonplace.

Varieties of drones

Currently, there are a lot of drones that differ in their size, appearance, flight range, as well as functionality. UAVs differ in their control methods and their autonomy.

They can be:

  • Unmanaged;
  • remote controlled;
  • Automatic.

According to their size, drones are:

  • Microdrones (up to 10 kg);
  • Minidrones (up to 50 kg);
  • Mididrons (up to 1 ton);
  • Heavy drones (weighing more than a ton).

Microdrones can stay in the airspace for up to one hour, minidrones for three to five hours, and mididrons for up to fifteen hours. Heavy drones can stay in the air for more than twenty-four hours with intercontinental flights.

Overview of foreign unmanned aerial vehicles

The main trend in the development of modern drones is to reduce their size. One of the Norwegian drones from Prox Dynamics can be such an example. The helicopter drone has a length of 100 mm and a weight of 120 grams, a range of up to one km, and a flight duration of up to 25 minutes. It has three video cameras.

These drones have been mass-produced since 2012. Thus, the British military purchased 160 sets of PD-100 Black Hornet in the amount of 31 million dollars for special operations in Afghanistan.

Microdrones are also being developed in the United States. They are working on a special Soldier Borne Sensors program aimed at developing and implementing reconnaissance drones with the potential to extract information for platoons or companies. There is information about the planning by the American army leadership to provide all fighters with individual drones.

To date, the RQ-11 Raven is considered the heaviest drone in the US Army. It has a mass of 1.7 kg, a wingspan of 1.5 m and a flight of up to 5 km. With an electric motor, the drone can reach speeds of up to 95 km/h and stay in flight for up to one hour.

He has a digital video camera with night vision. The launch is made from the hands, and a special platform is not needed for landing. The devices can fly along predetermined routes in automatic mode, GPS signals can serve as reference points for them, or they can be controlled by operators. These drones are in service with more than a dozen states.

The heavy American army UAV is the RQ-7 Shadow, which conducts reconnaissance at the brigade level. It has been mass-produced since 2004 and has a two-keel plumage with a pusher propeller and several modifications. These drones are equipped with conventional or infrared video cameras, radar, target illumination, laser rangefinders, and multispectral cameras. Guided five-kilogram bombs are suspended from the vehicles.

The RQ-5 Hunter is a mid-size, half-ton drone, a joint US-Israeli development. In its arsenal there is a television camera, a third-generation thermal imager, a laser rangefinder and other equipment. It is launched from a special platform with a rocket booster. Its flight zone is within a range of up to 270 km, for 12 hours. Some Hunter modifications have pendants for small bombs.

MQ-1 Predator is the most famous American UAV. This is the "transformation" of a reconnaissance drone into a strike drone, which has several modifications. The Predator conducts reconnaissance and delivers precision ground strikes. It has a maximum takeoff weight of more than a ton, a radar station, several video cameras (including an IR system), other equipment and several modifications.

In 2001, a high-precision laser-guided Hellfire-C missile was created for him, which in next year used in Afghanistan. The complex has four drones, a control station and a satellite communications terminal, and costs more than four million dollars. The most advanced modification is the MQ-1C Gray Eagle with a larger wingspan and a more advanced engine.

The MQ-9 Reaper is the next American strike UAV with several modifications, known since 2007. It has a longer flight time, guided bombs, and more advanced radio electronics. The MQ-9 Reaper performed admirably in the Iraqi and Afghan campaigns. Its advantage over the F-16 is a lower purchase and operating price, a longer flight duration without risk to the pilot's life.

1998 - the first flight of the American strategic unmanned reconnaissance aircraft RQ-4 Global Hawk. Currently, this is the largest UAV with a takeoff weight of more than 14 tons, with a payload of 1.3 tons. It can stay in the airspace for 36 hours, while overcoming 22 thousand km. It is assumed that these drones will replace the U-2S reconnaissance aircraft.

Overview of Russian UAVs

What is available today? Russian army, and what are the prospects for Russian UAVs in the near future?

"Pchela-1T"- Soviet drone, first took off in 1990. He was a fire spotter for multiple launch rocket systems. It had a mass of 138 kg, a range of up to 60 km. He started from a special installation with a rocket booster, sat down by parachute. Used in Chechnya, but outdated.

"Dozor-85"- reconnaissance drone for the border service with a mass of 85 kg, flight time up to 8 hours. The Skat reconnaissance and strike UAV was a promising machine, but so far work has been suspended.

UAV "Forpost" is a licensed copy of the Israeli Searcher 2. It was developed back in the 90s. Forpost has a takeoff weight of up to 400 kg, a flight range of up to 250 km, satellite navigation and television cameras.

In 2007, a reconnaissance drone was adopted "Tipchak", with a launch weight of 50 kg and a flight duration of up to two hours. It has a regular and infrared camera. "Dozor-600" is a multi-purpose device developed by "Transas", was presented at the MAKS-2009 exhibition. He is considered an analogue of the American "Predator".

UAV "Orlan-3M" and "Orlan-10". They were developed for reconnaissance, search and rescue operations, target designation. The drones are extremely similar in their appearance. However, they differ slightly in their take-off weight and flight range. They take off with a catapult and land by parachute.