Russia defence & technology updates

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At the HeliRussia-2024 exhibition in Moscow, Belarus showed the second version of the Hunter drone helicopter, developed by KB Unmanned Helicopters. The unmanned, upgraded Hunter attack helicopter is designed to engage UAVs, naval drones, personnel, armored vehicles and reconnaissance. It is possible that Russia will purchase it, since the search for maritime drones is now important for the Russian army. The UAVHELI HD-300 system is installed on the UAV, which includes an automatic tracking system, an inertial module, a laser range finder, a TV camera and a thermal imager. The UAV is equipped with an on-board defense system, with an radiation warning station and a device for releasing false thermal targets. The Hunter UAV is armed with a turret with a 7.62 mm machine gun, two launchers for eight unguided missiles or 16 aerial bombs weighing 2.5 kg each. The helicopter is equipped with a 268 hp internal combustion engine. The maximum take-off weight of the helicopter is 750 kg, the payload is 200 kg, the helicopter reaches speeds of up to 190 km/h, at altitudes of up to 3500 meters, flight endurance of up to 6 hours.

 

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The electronic warfare tracked drone REBovets Valli was shown in Russia. Russian developers showed the first tracked electronic warfare platform "REBovets Valley", designed to combat FPV drones. The company "PPSh Laboratory" placed the electronic warfare "Fumigator" on a tracked chassis, more details about it in the link to the video in the comments to the video. One might say it turned out to be a huge ground-based electronic warfare drone.
The developer says that several communication channels are used and electronic warfare suppresses everything that is needed. Technical details and what kind of chassis are unknown, but judging by the size of the electronic warfare drone, this installation has many amplifiers and can suppress the frequencies of most FPV drones. The robotic platform "EW Valli" has powerful batteries, which allows it and the electronic warfare equipment to operate for a very long time. Details in the video.

 

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Ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Egyptian Navy conducted a joint exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. Previously, Russian ships, including the Varyag missile cruiser of Project 1164 and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov of Project 1155M, were previously considered
a large anti-submarine ship, left the port of Alexandria, where they were on a business call. The Egyptian Navy used the frigate Al-Qadeer.
The frigate "Al-Qadeer" F-909 was launched in 2022, the ship's displacement is 3,700 tons. During the exercises, the ships of Russia and Egypt practiced forming a detachment in a designated area and joint tactical maneuvering in various formations. In addition, the ships conducted communications training and provided flights of deck helicopters.

 

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Footage assessing the armor of the American-made M113 armored personnel carrier, previously used in the Ukrainian army. The M113 armored personnel carrier was developed in the USA in 1959 and was produced until 2007. The M113 armored personnel carrier is one of the most common in the world; more than 80 thousand units were produced. The armor of the M113 armored personnel carrier was tested at the training ground of one of the Russian military research institutes. The body of the M113 armored personnel carrier is welded, it consists of 45 mm sheets of aluminum armor, with the addition of manganese and magnesium. The M113 armored personnel carrier was fired from a Russian armored personnel carrier-82A with a 2A72 automatic cannon of 30 mm caliber. Also, the Russian ASVK 12.7 mm sniper rifle, with an armor-piercing cartridge, was used to fire at the M113 armored personnel carrier from a distance of 100 meters.

 

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The heavy attack-transport UAV "Perun" was received by Russian troops. The drone was developed by former Wagner military personnel. It is not clear whether the military personnel themselves assemble the drone from foreign components, or whether it is a ready-made design; the drone’s software is reportedly Russian-developed. In the video you can see a soldier being transported by a drone, as well as the Fagot ATGM installed on the drone; we previously showed these tests. The drone is currently being tested to deliver cargo to military personnel, so it can be used for evacuating the wounded, reconnaissance and dropping ammunition. The drone can deliver landing groups behind enemy lines. During further testing, they plan to attach a machine gun and a installation for launching unguided aircraft missiles to the Perun drone. The carrying capacity of the Perun drone is up to 200 kg, the price and other technical characteristics are not reported.

 

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Russia has deployed the first battery of the new S-500 Prometheus air defense system in the Krasnodar region. It is worth noting that the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence department, Kirill Budanov, said that the S-500 air defense system was deployed in Crimea, in the Kerch Strait area. According to media reports, the S-500 air defense system will protect the Crimean Bridge. The S-500 air defense system is specially designed to combat ballistic missiles; it is quite difficult to hit them, and the previous generation air defense systems cope worse with this. The last stage of testing of the S-500 complex took place on February 22, when the Prometheus air defense system hit the R-29RMU2 Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile.

 

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At the Russian International Maritime Show 2024, three new Russian naval drones “Orkan”, “ASV-1000” and “GRK-700 Vizir” were presented, we previously talked about the latter. Also in the video you can see the Russian autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicle MMT-300. The Russian unmanned boat "Orkan" is not a ready-made marine drone, but a basic platform for creating a marine robotic complex with a multi-purpose unmanned boat. Now "Orkan" is the most compact marine drone presented. There is very little technical information, it is known that the Orkan marine drone can reach speeds of up to 74 km/h at a range of at least 500 km, seaworthiness up to 3 points, how communication is carried out is unknown. The ASV-1000 marine drone can also be equipped with payloads for various purposes; it is capable of carrying up to 1 ton of cargo, so far only this is known. Prices and when the BEC will be mass produced are not reported.

 

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Russian troops received Tablet-A complexes for artillery fire control, based on Atlet armored vehicles. It is worth noting that we previously talked about the “Tablet-M-IR” version, it is newer, but the “Tablet-A” version was sent to the troops. The “Tablet-A” complex was developed by the Kovrov All-Russian Scientific Research Institute “Signal”, based on tablet computers, based on Russian Komdiv-64 processors. The Tablet-A complex is capable of controlling the fire of almost all weapons in service. "Tablet-A" increases the effectiveness of counter-battery warfare, significantly reducing response time; it collects data to calculate fire parameters. The complex can work with any reconnaissance equipment, radar, laser range finders, thermal imagers, automated weather kits, ballistic computers and UAVs, receiving data in real time via satellite channels. All data is processed and transmitted to the screen to the gun commander, the brand of the gun and the type of shells are taken into account. After receiving the coordinates of the targets, the commander of the artillery unit, in just a few clicks, ensures the calculation of firing settings and their transfer to specific guns.

 

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A new combat laser for combating drones is being prepared for testing in Russia, the Sputnik agency reported. The laser was developed by the Scientific and Technical Center "LEMT" of Belarus and Russian research institutes. The combat laser will have a power of about 100 kW, it is being tested not only on drones, but also on other surfaces. Previously, specialists from the LEMT company successfully tested a 30 kW laser in the Middle East. There is no information about the guidance system and radars used. The system effectively detects drones that are hit at a distance of 400 meters to 6 kilometers. The cost of firing laser systems with a power of up to 60 kW is about 1-2 dollars, with a power of up to 480 kW - up to 10 dollars.

 

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Rostec handed over the first VK-650V engines to the Kazan helicopter plant for testing the imported Ansat helicopter. “The first prototypes of the VK-650V engine were produced at the St. Petersburg enterprise ODK-Klimov, they successfully passed preliminary and life tests. They are currently undergoing certification tests. They plan to receive the certificate by the end of this year, and next year they plan to begin mass production of the engine. VK-650V is the first Russian helicopter engine in the 650-750 hp power class. The power plant will replace the American Pratt & Whitney PW207K engine on the Ansat helicopter; it will also be used on the Ka-226T helicopter, as well as in other promising Russian helicopters and aircraft with a take-off weight of up to 4 tons. Compared to foreign analogues, the VK-650V will have greater take-off power and better specific characteristics. Dry weight of the VK-650V engine is 105 kg. The declared specific fuel consumption at takeoff is 245 grams of fuel per horsepower per hour.

 

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A prototype of the Impuls-M universal tracked platform, developed jointly with the Moscow company Gumich, was shown in Russia. The Russian robotic complex "Impulse-M" has a modular design and is planned to be used for cargo transportation and for installing various equipment, including different types of weapons; it can be used for laying mines and evacuating the wounded. Testing of the platform with an anti-tank missile system is already planned. The robot's tracked chassis is distinguished by high reliability and maintainability in field conditions; it can continue moving without several rollers. The Impulse-M robot implements various types of communication between the operator and the robot, which ensures operation in electronic warfare conditions. If the connection is lost, the robot can continue the route to its destination and return back to the base along the same path. The length of the Impulse-M robot is about 2 meters, it is capable of transporting a load weighing 1 ton on a horizontal surface. On a 30-degree climb, the robot can transport up to 500 kg, and on a trailer it can pull up to 1.5 tons.

 

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Russian military personnel showed a homemade wheeled platform “Scorpion-M”, essentially an FPV drone, only on wheels. The Scorpion-M robotic platform can be used for reconnaissance of terrain, trawling breakage and pressure sensors used in anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices; the drone can be equipped with explosives weighing up to 40 kg. Weighing up to 20 kg, the Scorpion-M ground drone is capable of moving at speeds of up to 12 km/h, its battery life is about 4 hours, at a distance of up to 5000 meters. Interview in video.

 

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Rare archival footage used by units of the Russian Pacific Fleet, the Soviet ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” in Ukraine. It is worth noting that the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” is also used by the Ukrainian army, but there is practically no video of it either.
ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" was produced from 1964 to 1982, despite such a long production period, there are supposedly no more than 100 of them left in Russia, and no more than 40 in Ukraine. The Shilka air defense system is used extremely rarely, since training on it takes a long time, and the radius of destruction of targets is only 2 kilometers.
Detailed technical characteristics of the Shilka air defense system on the screen. The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is armed with a quadruple 23-mm AZP-23 "Amur" cannon with a rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute per barrel. The ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” combat vehicle weighs 19 tons and is equipped with a 280 hp engine. and reaches speeds of up to - 50 km/h. Power reserve 300 km. The thickness of the armor in the frontal part of the hull is up to 15 mm. The crew of the combat vehicle is four people. Details of the combat work of the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” in Ukraine in the video.

 

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Operation of the Russian combat vehicle TO-2 "Tosochka". A Russian serviceman told his impressions of the TOS-2 “Tosochka” heavy flamethrower machine and showed the work of its crew. The firing range of the TOS-2 "Tosochka" is up to 18 kilometers. New samples of TOS-2 “Tosochka” are also equipped with grilles for protection against drones. The developer of the TOS-2 “Tosochka” is the Tula research and production association “Splav” named after A. N. Ganichev; the combat vehicle is produced by the machine-building plant “Motovilikha Plants” in the city of Perm. Details in the video.

 

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Rostec has supplied the Russian troops with a batch of the latest 152 mm Malva self-propelled wheeled howitzers manufactured in 2024. Wheeled self-propelled guns "Malva" on the BAZ 8x8 chassis were put into mass production on October 26, 2023, technical information about them is in the link to the video in the comments to the video. The Malva 2S43 self-propelled gun has high maneuverability, a long service life and is economical to operate, in comparison with self-propelled guns on a tracked chassis, and they can also be quickly transferred by Il-76 aircraft.
The Malva self-propelled gun can fire all types of ammunition that are used on 152-mm gun mounts, such as Msta-B, 2 S19 Msta-S, D-20, 2S3 Akatsiya and ML-20. You can also use adjustable Krasnopol projectiles with laser illumination.

 

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The Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Gorshkov, as part of a long voyage, after visiting Cuba, searched for submarines in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship's Ka-27PL anti-submarine helicopter was used to search for submarines. The video shows a Ka-27PL helicopter diving into water with a VGS-3 sonar station. The VGS-3 hydroacoustic station takes approximately 30 seconds to perform a 360-degree view in noise direction finding mode. At a distance of more than 50 kilometers from the ship, the pilots carried out a set of measures to visually, radar, magnetometrically and hydroacoustically search for submarines. The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov of Project 22350 is a multi-purpose ship with guided missile weapons. The ship was accepted into the Russian Navy in 2018, and in 2021 it was modified to use Zircon hypersonic missiles.