UAVs in Russian Armed Forces: News

GarryB wrote:

powered by an electric motor can fly silently as well

Deep behind enemy lines you want a fast UAV so normal fuelled motor with module that glides down to specific location is cheaper and faster without expensive heavy batteries.

GarryB wrote:The drone I was referring to is to supply special forces deep behind enemy lines. It is a modular system with a part that carries a glide module that holds the ammo and fuel and water and whatever else the forward deployed unit requires. the glide module might be released 10km away from the position of the troops it is supplying while the glide module delivers the cargo.

If its last portion of flight is a silent glide then why would it need to be battery powered?

GarryB wrote:
I never mentioned any design name or maker name so what are you talking about?

GarryB wrote:
A drone used to deliver supplies to forward deployed troops covertly is hardly going to fly at low level all the way with some noisy engine to give away their position...

Troops somewhere like Afghanistan half way up a mountain watching an enemy base and transmitting information is not going to appreciate some noisy slow drone flying in and landing next to them and giving away their position.

On the other hand a drone that flys at high altitude and releases a glider that flys in an lands directly on their position in the middle of the night with no engine noise would be a useful way to resupply a unit.

GarryB wrote:

They might deliver water or ammo or food or they might deliver a heavy calibre rifle or ATGM to deal with a threat that was not previously anticipated, or could not be carried up the mountain they are on covertly.

PapaDragon wrote:
MiG is working on strike drones between 1 and 15 ton weight

http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4726539

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2949903.html

DUBAI, November 14th. / TASS /. The Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC) MiG is working to create shock and reconnaissance drones weighing from 1 to 15 tons, their prototypes will appear in the coming years . This was announced on Tuesday by the official representative of the corporation Anastasia Kravchenko at the exhibition Dubai Airshow 2017.
"These are reconnaissance and strike targets, different classes for different tasks," she said, answering the relevant question.
Kravchenko added that prototype drones will be created "in the coming years." These devices will be in three categories - from one ton to five, from five to ten and from ten to fifteen.

According to her, domestic engines are being developed for all classes of unmanned vehicles.


Подробнее на ТАСС:
http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4726539

miketheterrible wrote:MiG is jumping to the game rather late.  Altius and Orion will end up filling the roll, and Irkutsk can have one rolled out much sooner.  

Whatever has engine flies in more controllable way. Can make ups downs, make second round in landing place and has chance to return with anything if needed.

Electrical motor lets you fly low and virtually noiseless.

Unlike high flying drone it is harder to spot on couple of meters above ground.

this is not the question of glider ot powered but payload and concept of use right?

Altius and Orion will end up filling the roll, and Irkutsk can have one rolled out much sooner.

Azi wrote:Electrical motor for UAV makes sense only with high span of wings and high efficient solar cells on it. So its possible to let a drone fly for weeks without landing. Only capacitors or batteries without solar cells would make the UAV too heavy. Simply google pictures for "solar UAV".

GarryB wrote:
An electric engine would need batteries and would be very slow and lack range.

+

And really slowly over relatively short range and not with a particularly heavy payload.

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Over the past several years, Top Flight has continued to develop major innovations for the microscale hybrid engine concept, called a “digital gearbox.” Engines for vertical takeoff aircraft, such as helicopters, are complex and difficult to manage, consisting of thousands of mechanical parts. Top Flight’s digital gearbox behaves like those systems but uses electricity to control everything. Gasoline runs to a small generator, creating electric power, which the digital gearbox controls and sends in pulses to the electric motors and electronics. This makes the powering flight much simpler and more efficient, Phan says.
“By pulsing the electricity to the motors, we can control the amount of torque and revolutions per minute of the motor,” Phan says. “We can … achieve the same benefits as a traditional mechanical transmission system, but it’s much more efficient, cost-effective, and scalable.”

mmediate applications for Top Flight’s drone capabilities may include inspecting infrastructure in remote areas. Some U.S. utilities companies are already tasking drones with inspecting power lines and pipelines that go without routine inspection due to their remote locations. Top Flight’s drones could greatly increase the range of those drones while reducing costs and improving worker safety. They could also help pre- and post-disaster recovery efforts by surveying damage to the networks after natural disasters.
As for delivery drones, Phan says Top Flight can increase the overall value related to increased range. Amazon, Google, UPS, and other large international firms are developing drone-based solutions that can deliver packages to consumer doorsteps. But they’re restricted to carrying, say, a single textbook and maybe 30 minutes of battery life, limiting their range.
“By increasing the range by an order of magnitude, you can capture 100 times more value, due to the increased area coverage, compared to traditional battery drone systems,” Phan says. “[Delivery drones] are not just a gimmick. They’re very feasible soon.”
Top Flight’s drones also hold promise for improved military missions, Phan says. A flock of 1,000 small drones could be deployed for longer times to gather reconnaissance data at a cost similar that of a single large military aircraft.
When Top Flight completes its 100-kilowatt hybrid electric engine, that same concept could also be used to haul, say, barrels of oil, divided into smaller amounts for military convoys in dangerous zones. Generally, this type of shipping is expensive and hazardous due to transportation costs and various risks on the road. “Instead of carrying really big loads in the tons, you use many drones to carry small loads in the 100-kilogram increments, like a pack of mules,” Phan says.
Currently, Top Flight uses an internal combustion engine in its microscale hybrid power systems. Moving forward, the company aims to hybridize gas turbine engines, which are used to power jets and helicopters. “Heat and vibration issues will be magnified, but at the same time they’re much more powerful and almost 100 percent more energy efficient than comparably-sized internal combustion engines,” Phan says. “That’s our next challenge.”


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A promising supersonic drone aircraft will carry controlled and unguided aircraft weapons, said deputy head of the research department of the Central Research Institute of the Air Force Alexander Nemov.

In the new issue of the program "Military Acceptance," he talked about the creation in Russia of a long-range unmanned vehicle that could fly like a cruise missile.

"At present, the development of a long-range unmanned system is underway, which will be able to perform an automatic low-altitude supersonic flight," he said.

According to Nemov, the new UAV can hit both stationary and mobile targets in operational strategic depth with the help of guided and unguided missiles.

https://rg.ru/2018/02/26/reg-cfo/skorostnoj-vertolet-rf-poluchit-bespilotnuiu-versiiu.html

A promising Russian high-speed helicopter can get an unmanned version. This "Star" was informed by Pavel Shchavelev, head of the Research Institute of Airborne Radio Equipment and Aircraft of the Central Research Institute of the Air Force of the Russian Defense Ministry, where they are working on a new car.

The head of the Air Force Institute noted that both a classic version with a crew and an unmanned complex were being developed. They will act in the interests of the Army, Pavel Shchavelev said.

As Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostek, reported earlier, it is planned that the prototype of a prospective helicopter will first rise to the sky in 2019. Its speed will be 400 kilometers per hour.

GarryB wrote:Holy shit... low altitude supersonic flight... that is very very impressive....

Most things are not supersonic at low level or if they are they are not supersonic for very long...

So basically Russia is prepared for a conventional war where UCAVs arent important, and ithe US has much lighter materials and powerful drone engines that make the predator have such long range, while Russia doesnt?