UAVs in Egyptian Armed Forces

I will start this thread with the last update from Egypt International Airshow (EIAS) .

Egyptian made drone "6 October".

Egyptian company Robotics Engineering Systems (RES) showcased its locally manufactured drones and smart munitions at the first edition of the Egypt International Airshow (EIAS 2024), which was held at El Alamein International Airport over three days.

The company's flagship product, the“6th of October” drone, was a key attraction. It is a multi-mission unmanned aerial vehicle, entirely designed, developed, and manufactured in Egypt. It was first unveiled at the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX 2023).

The“6th of October” drone, a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) aircraft, features a sophisticated design with two engines producing 145 horsepower each, an increased main fuel tank capacity compared to previous models, and advanced landing gear with automatic takeoff and landing capabilities.

The drone was displayed armed with guided missiles and smart aerial bombs, enabling it to carry out offensive missions, armed reconnaissance, and border security operations. It boasts a conventional range of 240 kilometres, extendable by deploying multiple ground control stations or satellite control. The drone can remain airborne for over 30 hours and operates at an altitude of up to 18,000 feet. It can fly at a speed of 260 kilometres per hour and land at 120 kilometres per hour. It measures 8.9 metres in length, 5 metres in height, and has a wingspan of 18.5 metres.

The“6th of October” drone is equipped with 13 hardpoints for carrying reconnaissance and surveillance systems, electro-optical and infrared sensors, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which can generate 2D or 3D images and maps of terrain. It also features additional fuel tanks.

RES also showcased its range of smart munitions, all manufactured in Egypt for the first time. These included a glide bomb, equipped with aerodynamic control surfaces (wings and tail) and a domestically-made GWD-6 smart munition guidance system that operates in three guidance modes: GPS, inertial navigation system (INS), and electro-optical guidance. It carries a warhead weighing up to 1,000 kilograms and has a range of 50 kilometres.

The company also unveiled long-range standoff munitions. These air-to-ground munitions consist of a 155mm warhead equipped with an aerodynamic control system and the PGK long-range smart munition guidance kit, locally produced by RES. These munitions have a range of up to 80 kilometres. The guidance system weighs 60 kilograms and utilises INS, GPS, and electro-optical guidance.

Finally, RES showcased small-sized smart munitions. These munitions contain 122mm and 155mm artillery shells equipped with an aerodynamic control system and the PGK smart munition guidance kit, manufactured by RES. The munitions have a range of up to 30 kilometres and a guidance system weighing 10 kilograms, utilising INS, GPS, and electro-optical guidance.

https://menafn.com/1108648308/Egyptian-Company-Unveils-Locally-Made-Drones-Smart-Munitions

Another Egyptian made drone "30 June".

Testing of munitions with Egyptian-made electro-optical monitoring and targeting system.

The E-June 30 medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAS looks similar to the Baykar Akinci. It has been serving the Egyptian Air Force for around four to five years, accumulating 2,500 hours of flying time during that time. According to the specification sheet the E-June 30 fulfils the intelligence surveillance reconnaissance role, through a switchable EO/IR/LRF FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) turret or synthetic aperture radar.

With a mean take-off weight of 1,680kgs and a 12.4 metre wingspan, the E-June30 powered by a pair of gasoline 115hp engines can stay airborne for up to 14 hours. It has a maximum speed of 260km per hour and can operate between 18,000-20,000ft.

It seems  Robotic Engineering system is a promising Egyptian company .

Ukrainian war proved such drones have a very limited usefulness and are very easy targets.

It doesn't mean it wasn't or it will not be effective on other areas , you just have to know when and how to use it.

It was very effective in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict .

Not everyone will fight against well defended enemy like Russia , Ukraine was stupid to think that armed big drone like TB-2 could do the same impact which done in Armenian conflict .

Actually Russia is using the armed Orion now because Ukraine has low defended AD coverage over it's ground units.

Larger drones would be sitting ducks for Russias air defences, because they are easier to detect and engage, so for the Ukraine such drone would not last long... and indeed did not last long. The Baykratya or whatever it is called was going to be amazing and turned out to be a sitting duck... but if you look at the lancet system there is the small flying wing recon drone that flys high and spots targets and the X wing lancet drone that flys low and flys into the target and destroys it.

The way the system works the high flying optically equipped drone is critical... otherwise you have to fly the suicide drones higher to find targets and their X wings make them easier to spot from further away and that gives the targets more warning they are under attack and also a better chance to shoot it down.

The range of suicide drones would be dramatically reduced if they had to fly around looking for targets rather than just flying to the targets coordinates and approaching from an unexpected direction (based on the live view from an optical drone already over enemy positions) .

These big drones would make sense if they have anti radiation systems and recon pods that can detect threats on the ground.

If you are fighting a western funded/armed force then making them launch a million dollar patriot or ground launched AMRAAM missile at a drone is a good trade... but more importantly the data that drone can send back to HQ before it gets shot down can be used to mount an attack using ARMs like Kh-31 or Kh-58.

Manned aircraft would not be any safer in such an airspace so losing unmanned drones is better if you can get information and even fire off a few ARMs before their SAMs hit your drone... the cost of the SAMs fired will have the cost of the radar and missile vehicles nearby added to it if you can fire off a few ARMs when you get painted by the system. Your recon and other pods can be used to find other air defence targets too.

If you want to send in helicopters or low flying aircraft or drones a few high flying drones can look for threats and also for targets making you helicopters and drones rather more effective.

You might lose a couple, but it is war... what were you expecting?

Having two wings on that drone allowing a large volume of weapons and pods to be carried looks rather good.... often high flying drones will loiter over the battlefield for 6 hours or more so having two pylons with two Hellfire missiles on each pylon is a bit limiting... especially when they are half a million dollars a shot...

Also at peace time you can use such drones for air patrols especially Egypt has a desert borders with Sudan & Libya and sometimes they would target terrorists with aircraft which is a cost headache for the Airforce .

It's a good start for Egypt to design and implement such projects .

Drones are not the solution to everything, but they certainly have roles to play.

This big drone can carry electronics pods and weapons in decent numbers and would be rather good for border patrol and operating inside friendly airspace monitoring for enemy drones or missiles.

It could also be operated in warzones loaded up with anti radiation missiles and self defence AAMs to look for enemy air defence assets and monitor ground movements, without risking air crew.

For very high risk situations smaller lighter cheaper higher flying platforms would make more sense, but this platform would be a good force multiplier looking for enemy air defence or drones to engage while quietly monitoring enemy territory.

Cheap mockup models can be used as bait to get enemy air defences to light up and reveal their locations, to be attacked by other higher flying stealthier drones.

Disposable jammers and DIRCMS pods could be included on the drone to increase survival rates so it takes more than one missile to take them down.

The Israelis used drones in the 1980s to take out arab SA-8s and SA-6s so this is not something that is new by any means.

In fact this drone could carry two x 80mm rocket pods carrying a total of 40 rockets with laser homing rockets to potentially hit 80 targets using the contents of just two weapon pylons.

In Russian use a Bulat could be carried in large numbers and attack the weaker top armour of targets.