UAVs and UCAVs

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U.S. Aircraft Carriers Lack Striking Range. This Tanker Drone Could Change That.
 

panzerfeist1

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Here is some info on drone swarms.

https://iz.ru/972679/anton-lavrov-roman-kretcul/odnim-makhom-rossiia-razrabatyvaet-oruzhie-protiv-giperzvukovykh-raket

The Ministry of Defense has made a fundamental decision to develop a multifunctional long-range intercept missile system (MFRK DP) for the MiG-31 fighters and the promising MiG-41, capable of hitting hypersonic ammunition. According to Izvestia sources familiar with the situation, theoretical studies have already been carried out on an ultra-long-range air-to-air missile with a multiple warhead. Now the characteristics and composition of the complex are being determined. According to Izvestia, one of the candidates for the role of a submunition (head units) is the promising K-77M medium-range aviation missile.

The complex being developed is one of the options for such protection. The airborne heavy high-speed ammunition will deliver a warhead with several modern air-to-air missiles to a distance of several hundred kilometers. Then they will separate from the carrier and begin to search and attack targets on their own. An active homing head with its own radar will help them in this.

Such a system makes it possible to destroy objects at long range, noted military expert Dmitry Kornev. This is necessary, for example, in order to hit the carrier before it releases its missiles.

An ordinary anti-aircraft missile has one warhead,” he told Izvestia. - The probability of a miss on a hypersonic maneuvering target is very high. But if one ammunition carries several homing shells, then the chances of hitting a high-speed object increase significantly.

According to the expert, in the case of firing the IFRK DP at hypersonic targets, all warheads will be displayed at a pre-calculated point on the trajectory of the flying ammunition and attack it head-on. The use of an ultra-long-range missile will expand the interceptor's engagement zone.

The use of the complex will be especially effective when the aircraft operates as part of a single information space. Aerial targets, cruise missiles or hypersonic missiles can be detected by ground-based radars, early warning aircraft, or an attack warning system. The fighter will only need to launch an ultra-long-range missile into the desired area. In this case, the interceptor does not have to risk it himself, entering into an air battle.

Российский "Маркер" станет носителем ударных дронов-камикадзе
Экспериментальный российский боевой робот "Маркер" может стать платформой для ударных беспилотников. Ранее гусеничная машина испытывалась с пулеметом Калашникова и противотанковыми ракетами
rg.ru
rg.ru

“The experimental Russian combat robot Marker could become a platform for single-shot drone drone. Previously, the tracked vehicle was tested with a combat module armed with a Kalashnikov machine gun and anti-tank missiles.

"It is planned to equip the Marker with unmanned aerial vehicles that provide both reconnaissance and destruction of enemy targets," Vitaly Davydov, head of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Advanced Research Foundation , told RIA Novosti.

The UAV module provides autonomous launch - a swarm of barrage unmanned ammunition that destroys targets with its own strike. Each of the kamikaze drones can perform tasks both as part of a group and individually.”


I had thought in the past that drone swarm with explosives was an idiotic idea because an aircraft carrying them with their limited range would get shot down before releasing the drones along with EW systems but that opinion has changed.

1. unmanned ground vehicles have a very small height so it would be difficult for adversary radars to pick them up(and they can use obstacles like buildings or boulders for cover) and along with their small size with camoflauge technology. They can get close enough to surprise air defense systems and that close distance would be sufficient enough for small size drone swarms.

2. Technically the IFRK DP does not count as a drone its just a missile that operates like a hornets nest or a Matryoshka. But its range using several missiles inside of it might propose ideas later for air to ground missiles even though it is currently an air to air missile proposal. It sounds like a great idea for swarming air defense with.
 

shuvo@y2k10

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Over the last decade, there has been very little progress in Ghatak UCAV project, where only some wind tunnel testing is done by NAL. The Rustom which was supposed to be our own Predator, has been in developmental and testing phase for a very long time, and still not inducted. The ADE is to be blamed for this fiasco.
Other countries have fielded UCAVs, HALE, tanker and transportation drones over this time, we are lagging big time.

However, in the small drone segment, we have made some progress due to private industries like Idea-forge and others.
 

Tuco

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Over the last decade, there has been very little progress in Ghatak UCAV project, where only some wind tunnel testing is done by NAL. The Rustom which was supposed to be our own Predator, has been in developmental and testing phase for a very long time, and still not inducted. The ADE is to be blamed for this fiasco.
Other countries have fielded UCAVs, HALE, tanker and transportation drones over this time, we are lagging big time.

However, in the small drone segment, we have made some progress due to private industries like Idea-forge and others.
But not operationalised yet in large numbers, have see clippings of some mall from lizard country being used still.
 

panzerfeist1

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drone charged with laser from space developed in Russia.
 

WolfPack86

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US approves sale of four MQ-9 Reaper drones to Taiwan
The US State Department has approved a potential sale of four MQ-9B Reaper drones and associated hardware to Taiwan, passing the deal on to Congress for approval. The proposed $600 million deal is just the latest in billions of dollars in weapons supplied to Taipei by the Trump administration.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the Pentagon’s agency for handling the Foreign Military Sales program, announced on Tuesday the State Department had approved the potential $600 million deal.


According to DSCA, the sale would include four “weapons-ready” Reaper drones and four ground control stations for flying them – two mobile, two fixed – as well as a slew of related spare parts and other equipment. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is built by General Atomics.


“The capability is a deterrent to regional threats and will strengthen the recipient’s self-defense. The recipient will have no difficulty absorbing these systems into its armed forces,” the DSCA said. “The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”


However, the deal is not final until approved by lawmakers in both Washington and Taipei.

When reports of the potential deal first emerged in August, Beijing was furious, denouncing the deal as a violation of the One-China Principle. China regards Taiwan as a province in rebellion and US aid to Taipei as interference in China’s internal affairs. The US switched its recognition of the legitimate Chinese government over from Taiwan to China in 1978, acknowledging the People’s Republic of China had defeated the older Republic of China and won the civil war in 1949.


The news also comes on the heels of a set of US Air Force MQ-9 operators being spotted wearing unit patches that showed a Reaper drone with a grim reaper emblazoned on the wing soaring over a map of China. The editorial staff of the Global Times, a paper operated by the Communist Party of China, blasted the move as “an extremely arrogant provocation,” but noted that Chinese air defenses can easily down the UAVs.

While the government in Taipei has historically maintained its legitimacy as the Chinese government dating back to 1912, the coming to power of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen in 2016 signaled a shift in attitude, with her faction of the Democratic Progressive Party being more favorable to declaring Taiwan is an independent nation from China. Beijing has promised if this happens, there will be war.


The US has put forward several huge weapons deals with Taiwan in recent months, including $1 billion in long-range cruise missiles, $436 million in mobile rocket artillery and associated weapons, $2.37 billion in specialized rocket artillery that fires anti-ship missiles and $8 billion in F-16V “Viper” advanced interceptor aircraft.
 

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