Ukrainian military in Donbass first used in battle turkish drone Bayraktar… The Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed the howitzer of the so-called “1st Slavic Brigade of the DPR” with a missile strike. After that, real hysteria began in the propaganda media, and Russia even went to extreme measures, stopping import to the country of Turkish tangerines.
Why shock drones are dangerous, in which countries they are the most effective and what Ukrainian production can offer, read the material OBOZREVATEL.
What is Bayraktar?
Translated from Turkish, Bayraktar is translated as “standard bearer”. The first drones entered service with the Ukrainian army this summer. These are two complexes, consisting of six vehicles and three control stations. Our country paid for them, along with missiles, about $ 69 million.
Main characteristics:
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cruising speed – 130 km / h;
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maximum – 250 km / h;
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practical ceiling – 7.3 km;
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length – 6.5 m;
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wingspan – 12 m;
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the drone weighs 630 kg, is capable of lifting up to 55 kg of ammunition;
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the maximum control range is 150 kilometers.
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One of the advantages of a drone is the operating time. He is able to stay in the air for 24 hours, and then change to another UAV – thus, combat duty can last indefinitely.
As for weapons, the Bayraktar can carry four laser-guided UMTAS anti-tank missiles, or Roketsan MAM-C, MAM-L corrected high-precision gliding bombs capable of striking stationary and moving objects at a distance of up to 8 km.
Now similar drones are in service with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Qatar and Ukraine. Future deliveries were also announced in Poland and Libya.
What are drones capable of?
Bayraktar gained worldwide fame during the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh, where they were massively and effectively used by Azerbaijanis against the Armenian defense. In addition to TB2, other types of UAVs were also used during the conflict – for example, the Israeli kamikaze drones Sky Striker and Harop. But it is the Turkish drone that can be considered one of the symbols of the conflict.
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The war in Karabakh was the first in which the main tasks, usually solved by “traditional” aviation, were performed by drones. And many experts are confident that this is a decisive turn in the long-outlined revolution in military affairs. And that’s why:
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the main advantage of UAVs – especially of small and middle class – is the low cost of creation and operation;
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their task is not only to launch missile strikes, but also to simply patrol and observe the enemy from the air;
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an important advantage of a UAV is safety. There is no one in the cockpit of the device, the operator controls the machine from the ground center, being tens, hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away. Thus, he does not risk his life, does not die or is captured.
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losing UAVs is not as bad as fighters. They are much cheaper than aircraft – for example, $ 5-6 million versus $ 100 million for the American F-35;
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drones can stay in the air for a very long time – a day or more. Although they take longer to reach their destination than a fighter, they reconnoiter more “thoughtfully”;
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modern air defense systems are poorly adapted to the “drone war”.
Strongest combat drones on the planet
The United States is the leader in the production of combat drones. According to some forecasts, in 2028, the US military will have more aircraft than the rest of the world combined. Although other countries do not have that many drones, they also boast very effective developments.
It is one of the most powerful drones in the world. The aircraft, which is in service with the American army, is capable of taking off to an altitude of 14 km and staying in the air for 30 hours. Cruising speed – 280-310 km / h, maximum – up to 480 km / h.
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The UAV can lift a cargo weighing 4.7 tons into the sky. And the fiber-optic AN / AAS-52 system recognizes and tracks the target, TV cameras read the license plate, even when they are 3 km from the car. The response time to the command received from the operator is 1.5 s. The armament consists of an anti-tank missile and guided bombs. It can lift up to 14 air-to-ground missiles into the sky.
Medium-altitude reconnaissance and strike drone from China. Rainbow-5 can carry up to 16 air-to-surface missiles or other precision-guided munitions with a total weight of up to 900 kg. The wingspan is 21 m, the maximum speed is 400 km / h. Without refueling, it will stay in the air for 60 hours.
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A fifth generation British scout stormtrooper named after the Celtic god of thunder. The details of this development are kept in the strictest confidence. However, it is known that its mass is three tons, its length is 11 meters, and its wingspan is 10 meters. The drone is equipped with a stealth system, which makes it virtually invisible to enemy air defenses. Maximum speed – supersonic, designed for intercontinental flights.
–What else can Ukraine boast of?
Today, a number of attack drones are being developed in our country, capable of destroying enemy targets, while avoiding possible both human and infrastructural losses. However, a significant part of them are still at the stage of development and factory testing.
The design bureau “LUCH” is designed to conduct reconnaissance and strike at the operational and tactical depth of the enemy. In terms of its characteristics, it even surpasses the Turkish Bayraktar.
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cruising speed – from 150 to 335 km / h (depending on the engine);
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flight range – from 1000 to 3300 km;
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flight duration – from 3 to 26 hours.
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The expected cost of one UAV of the first batch is about 45 million hryvnia, with a subsequent reduction in price by 30-40% due to serial production.
The main purpose of the drone is to detect and defeat ground (surface) armored targets and air defense systems. Technically, the UAV has a multi-purpose warhead weighing 3 kg, which, when a target is detected, can neutralize it with a direct strike.
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RAM UAV is launched using a catapult and can stay in the sky for up to 40 minutes. The drone is controlled by the operator at a distance of up to 30 km, and from this distance the device transmits video in real time to the owner’s computer.
This is a project of an ultra-fast stealth drone, which, according to the developers, is capable of carrying weapons weighing up to 1 ton. ACE ONE’s speed is close to supersonic – 1000 km / h.
“ACE ONE discreetly appears, destroys the target and disappears, as if disappearing into thin air,” its creators declare. The drone is controlled by an artificial intelligence system that can control a “swarm of such drones.”
The 25 best Ukrainian scientists and specialists in the field of the aerospace industry worked on the development of the aircraft. For a ready-made prototype that can be launched into the sky, according to the estimates of the designers, it will take another 30 months.
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