Interview with the chief designer of the Orion unmanned aerial vehicle
The Rossiyskaya Gazeta, under the heading "Inhuman War. Combat drones play an increasingly aggressive role in local wars," published an interview with Nikolai Nikolayevich Dolzhenkov, general manager of Kronstadt JSC, one of the leading Russian developers of unmanned aerial systems, chief designer of Russia's first unmanned aerial vehicle apparatus of long duration flight "Orion".
Military conflicts in the Middle East have actually opened a new type of combat aircraft, and unmanned. For the first time, heavy drones began to be massively used as impact force. Drones destroy not individual terrorists, but entire military units.
Will we be able, if necessary, to oppose something to foreign combat drones? Kronstadt General Designer Nikolai Dolzhenkov, one of the most competent specialists in the field of designing unmanned aerial vehicles, answers questions from the Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
- Nikolai Nikolaevich, back in the early 1980s you are a very young designer of the Design Bureau named after Yakovlev, played a key role in creating the reconnaissance drone "Bee". For his time, he was one of the best in the world. It was used during counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus in the 1990s. And then some kind of failure came. As a result, we were forced to purchase reconnaissance drones in Israel, hastily adapting them to the requirements of the Russian army. Why did this happen? Nikolai Dolzhenkov: Unfortunately, I only have to state that at that time our country was not quite ready for unmanned calls. I will not speak in detail about why such a situation has developed - there are too many objective and subjective reasons. And yet, when there was not enough money for anything, in my opinion, the priorities were set incorrectly.
If we concentrated our finances, which were required not so much, on the creation of drones, now we would have a line of devices that solved the widest range of tasks on the battlefield and in civilian life.
In military aviation - the most expensive and valuable is not a plane or a helicopter, but a pilot. Even the most complex fighter can be assembled in a few months, and it takes years and considerable material and technical resources to prepare a cool pilot. The results of the combat use of shock drones, which we see in Syria, are comparable to the results obtained by manned aircraft. With a significant difference - there will be no loss among pilots. Currently, our Ministry of Defense has begun to pay significant attention to drones. In a very short time, we made a real breakthrough.
- What is the place of Russia in the development and production of drones among the leading countries of the world? Nikolai Dolzhenkov: Today we have some lag, but it is not catastrophic yet. In terms of design ideas and the technical level of the devices we are creating, we are almost not inferior to the leading countries. And we are in absolutely competitive condition with China.
I must say that our main competitor in the market, if we talk about export sales in the future, will not be Americans or Europeans, but China. The nomenclature of the Chinese drones and especially the pace of their development significantly exceed what is being done in other countries. And this must be taken into account.
I’m talking about unmanned aerial vehicles, whose mass is more than a ton. They will play a key role in the military and civilian sectors. If we do not respond to the Chinese challenge, then we will have to buy Chinese complexes, which we would not want to.
- Your UAV Orion was a surprise at the MAKS-2017 air show. At the military-technical forum "Army-2019" they also talked a lot about it. How did this device appear and what is it capable of? Nikolai Dolzhenkov: The military announced a competition for the creation of a multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicle of medium range weighing about a ton. Almost all leading aircraft manufacturers participated in it. We won. A team of fairly young but very professional specialists from various fields participated in the creation of the apparatus. Technical parameters and characteristics of "Orion" can be found in open publications. Let me remind you the main ones.
Wingspan - 16 meters, aircraft length - 8 meters, take-off mass - 1000 kg, maximum payload mass - 200 kg, continuous flight duration - at least 24 hours, can rise to a height of 7500 meters.
Our drone is primarily designed for reconnaissance flights, it can work as a repeater.
- You are the chief designer of Orion, not so much out of office, as in fact. This is really your car. What are you most proud of?Nikolai Dolzhenkov: UAVs have always been positioned as dual-use products, so they had a number of serious export restrictions on the supply of high-tech components from Western countries to ours. And although we started to work when there was no talk of sanctions, we made a bet only on domestic components. And taking into account the fact that drones of such a level as Orion have never been produced in our country, we had to do more than ninety percent of all the component equipment ourselves and from scratch. Done.
We initially decided - our drone will be almost completely compositional. In cooperation with leading scientific centers of the country, it was possible to develop the latest technology for the production of carbon fiber plastic based on vacuum infusion. And today, our technology is used by aircraft builders, who are faced with sanctions.
We have developed a rather original propeller - a two-blade propeller, also made of composite materials. It has a variable step, which was not previously in this dimension. And also our device is equipped with a unique anti-icing system, which makes it possible to use Orion in the northern latitudes.
Another of our achievements is that we were the first in the country to make an all-electric aircraft of this dimension. The Orion has neither hydraulics nor pneumatics, with the exception of air in the chassis tires. All drives are electric. Domestic aircraft industry is only going to this.
For the first time we used elements of artificial intelligence. The unmanned complex is built in such a way that in the event of any failure or loss of communication with the operator or some other emergency situation, the device is able to return to the base and land. We managed to realize fully automatic taxiing, take-off, landing and even taxiing the vangar. Without human intervention. It should be understood here that when I say “we”, I mean our entire wide network of co-developers, to whom Kronstadt JSC ordered these components.
- What is more difficult to do - unmanned or manned aircraft?
Nikolai Dolzhenkov: Our unmanned aerial vehicle is completely identical in airborne complex to a manned aircraft. With the difference that everything had to be done anew in a much more miniaturized form. And this is a difficult task. We could not, for example, simply take some components used in fighters and place them on a drone. The mass and dimensions of aircraft are incommensurable.
I began my professional career at OKB named after A.S. Yakovleva, was the Chief Designer of the Yak-130. I can say that creating a good and efficient drone is even more difficult in some ways than a manned aircraft. It is due to incomparable dimension. Let me remind you, we are talking about devices weighing more than a ton.
- When will Orion appear in the troops?Nikolai Dolzhenkov: We have almost completed the first stage of state testing. What does it give? A ticket to mass production. And this is the most important thing. Now it is already possible to talk about ordering, the deployment of mass production and the arrival of the first parties in the troops. The sooner this happens, the better. Decide to the customer.
It should be borne in mind that the military is accumulating more and more practical experience in operating unmanned systems of this class.
Now there is experience using the Outpost UAV. Its mass is 450 kg. In addition, this is a Russian adaptation of the Israeli drone Searcher. And the first Searcher was shown back in 1990, that is, the military uses the development of the eighties of the last century. Our Orion is a fully Russian apparatus created in the 21st century. Forpost and Orion have completely different opportunities, incomparable development potentials.
- Turkey caused serious damage to the Syrian army using strike drones. We also have a lot, sometimes very optimistic and even pathos, about creating our own drone drone. When will they finally appear?
Nikolai Dolzhenkov: The fact that they are still missing is the result of a general underestimation of the role of unmanned aircraft in modern and promising wars. Now the situation has changed dramatically.
One of the problems is the lack of weapons, which can be used with domestic drones. We can’t take any of the existing guided missiles and hang them on an unmanned aerial vehicle - it simply can’t stand the launch and will fall apart in the air. However, at present, missile weapons designed for use with drones such a mass as Orion have practically been created.
For our part, we have already created both a suspension system and a combat control system. There will be weapons - there will be shock machines. I am sure this will happen in the foreseeable future.
- The media reported that Turkey for the first time in world military practice used a swarm of drones in Syria. What is it and why is it necessary?Nikolai Dolzhenkov: Indeed, in the Idlib region in the sky at the same time there were many shock drones. It was a massive blow, but not a swarm, as each device was controlled individually.
What is a real battle swarm? Imagine - in the sky there are several dozen drones weighing several tons, which carry missiles and bombs of great destructive force. And these machines maneuver at the same time, like a flock of birds, without colliding with each other and without blocking each other's sectors of fire. They represent the first echelon of aviation, taking on the air defense strike, saving manned aircraft and the lives of pilots with whom they interact and are corrected. Swarm management can be carried out using artificial intelligence. A solution to this problem is now very active in the United States and China.
I can say on an initiative basis and we are trying to create algorithms for controlling a swarm of heavy drones. This will be a non-model of neural networks in which drones constantly interact with each other, transmit missions in case of damage, change leader roles and ultimately reach the goal that needs to be destroyed, and also interact with manned aircraft.
- What are the prospects for using medium and heavy drones in the civilian sector of the economy?Nikolai Dolzhenkov: They are inexhaustible, especially for our country. And we are working in this direction with the active support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. An application has been submitted for certification of the type of civil version of Orion.
There are many tasks to be solved - technical and legal. It is necessary that for those who control air traffic, there is no difference with what or with whom they communicate - with the crew of the manned aircraft or with the operator of the drone. This is a very difficult problem, but we solve it. In the future, large drones will become as full participants in air traffic as manned aircraft.
- Where is it supposed to use heavy drones in the first place?Nikolai Dolzhenkov: This is primarily the monitoring of large areas. Drones can be in the air for a day or more. Inspecting the vast expanses of forests with sensitive equipment, they are able to instantly detect a source of ignition that can be put out with minimal effort, preventing it from escalating into a real fire storm.
Another area is monitoring the Northern Sea Route and, in general, the Arctic territories. This is an urgent task related to laying the way for ships, and with assessing situations in various water areas, and with weather forecasts, and with the environment, and with solving other problems. Today, such observation is carried out by satellites - this is not always convenient. The quality of their work depends on the weather. In the North, it is rarely clear. But drones can become a kind of quasi-satellites that can monitor constantly and in any weather.
Heavy drones are able to effectively solve transport problems in remote areas, which are enough in the Urals. Moreover, without human intervention, in automatic mode. We have projects of large drones with vertical take-off and landing. Moreover, our control technologies make it possible to make any transport aircraft unmanned - from the small An-2 to the giant An-225. Such machines can fly to a certain point and drop loads by parachute or unload at airfields.
- How do you see this is purely organizationally?Nikolai Dolzhenkov: I think there will be a certain structure that owns a fleet of various drones and is capable of servicing them technically. And already interested departments or private structures on a contractual basis will be able to order monitoring or transport services to carry out their tasks.
“We are witnessing the appearance of a new air fleet with artificial intelligence, in which human participation is minimized.”
Nikolai Dolzhenkov: Most likely, this is true. So far this question is rather philosophical. But it may happen that he will soon, already in the current decade, move into the practical plane.
Today, we have few heavy unmanned aerial vehicles. But the gap in absolute units is not so terrible. The main thing is to keep up with the pace of implementation of design ideas. If we don’t lag behind, then in case of urgent need we will realize any project in scale and complexity as soon as possible.
Business cardNikolai Dolzhenkov was born on November 9, 1956 in the city of Berezniki, Perm Territory. In 1980, he graduated with honors from the Moscow Aviation Institute. He began his career at OKB. A.S. Yakovleva, where he worked from 1980 to 2009. He has gone from a design engineer to the first deputy general director of OKB. the above bureau. As the chief designer, he directed the creation of the Yak-130 combat trainer, the first aircraft designed in the Russian Federation from design to serial production after the collapse of the USSR. Since 2011 - General Director and General Designer of the unmanned direction of the company "Kronstadt". Honored Designer of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Technical Sciences, author of more than 80 scientific papers and 25 inventions.
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