In the view of most non-aviation people, unmanned aerial vehicles are somewhat complicated versions of radio-controlled models of aircraft. In a sense, it is. However, the functions of these devices have recently become so diverse that it is no longer possible to limit oneself to such a look at them.
Beginning of the unmanned era
If we talk about automatic flying and remotely controlled space systems, then this topic is not new. Another thing is that in the last decade a certain fashion has arisen for them. At its core, the Soviet shuttle Buran, which made a space flight without a crew and landed safely in the now distant 1988, is also a drone. Photos of the surface of Venus and many scientific data on this planet (1965) were also obtained in automatic and telemetric modes. And lunar rovers are quite consistent with the idea of unmanned vehicles. And many other achievements of Soviet science in the space sphere. Where did this fashion come from? Apparently, it was the resultexperience in the combat use of such equipment, and he was rich.
Initially, unmanned aerial vehicles were most often used either as training targets or as projectile aircraft. This was still in the first third of the 20th century, and this situation persisted until the very end of the century (not counting spacecraft). Aviation losses in the Vietnam War forced the Pentagon to think about ways to reduce casu alties. The same considerations prompted Israeli firms to start developing land-controlled aircraft.
UAV classification
At the initial stage of development of this class of aerotechnics, unmanned aerial vehicles were unmanned. The technological revolution and the development of software tools gave impetus to the creation of flying robots that work according to a given algorithm. In other words, after launch, such an apparatus must fly along a given route at the required altitude, record information about the ground situation under the wing on the built-in electronic recording equipment, arrive again at the starting point and land. It is possible to transmit data in real time to the receiving monitor via a radio channel, but during the entire raid, the personnel at the tracking point do not interfere in the control process. With all the advantages of this approach, it has a significant flaw. It is impossible to create a program that could take into account all possible situations. Then there was a third way to solve the management function - telemetry. Pilotis on the ground, observes the situation through the built-in cameras, records the necessary information and makes decisions in the same way as a pilot of a conventional aircraft. This method is called remotely piloted. By the way, it is also used in radio-controlled model toys, however, they are quite expensive (they cost hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars).
The Israel Defense Forces (Tsakhal) gained experience in using new technology during the 1973 war. Unmanned aerial vehicles were used for operational reconnaissance, but the large size and weight of the video equipment of that time severely limited the capabilities of this tool. Nevertheless, it was in this Middle Eastern country that the prospects for remote-controlled aviation were understood first of all, which affected the further success of Israeli designers.
Amazing variety
Reconnaissance scope was not limited. The engineers of the American military-industrial complex went further. In addition to small sizes, they considered it quite a logical solution to create shock robotic systems, and even fighters. Of course, these machines must be large in order to carry weapons weighing hundreds of kilograms. The range of sizes expanded in the opposite direction. A drone with a surveillance camera can be disguised as a bird or even an insect, work in this direction is already underway, and the main obstacle to success is the imperfection of modern power sources, which should have provided the possibility of three-dimensional movement of the sample duringseveral days. In the meantime, the "bugs" (in the most literal sense) fly for hours measured.
When solving peaceful problems
Not only military, but also peaceful unmanned aerial vehicles turned out to be in demand. Their prices are quite high (depending on the configuration and technical capabilities of a UAV, it can cost from one to tens of thousands of dollars), but their use is economically beneficial. Reconnaissance of the meteorological situation, the search for injured and lost climbers in the mountains, the assessment of the ice situation, the direction of the spread of fire during forest fires, the movement of lava during volcanic eruptions, and many other tasks have always been performed by aviation. Pilots and equipment were at risk on dangerous flights, and when you consider the cost of fuel and depreciation of helicopters and aircraft, the desire to use remotely controlled or robotic air systems becomes quite understandable.
Drones are also often used today to secure borders and control migration. The United States has a long border with Mexico, from where illegal workers at best try to enter the country illegally, and drug smugglers at worst try to enter the country. Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and many other states have similar problems. Unmanned aerial vehicles can also provide invaluable assistance in the fight against poaching. But their advantages, such as low noise, low visibility, small size, are still more attractive to the defense departments of countries around the world.
Properties of unmanned vehicles
Military drones are more difficult to detect in the sky than conventional planes or helicopters. Firstly, they can be made small, and secondly, all technologies that provide low visibility on the radar screen are applicable to this tactical weapon. But that is not all. If necessary, then such an aircraft can have quite serious dimensions. The main advantage of an interceptor operating in a robotic mode is the ability to perform any maneuvers without fear that the pilot will lose consciousness due to huge overloads. It was this circumstance that prompted the leadership of the US Air Force to rely on drones. The United States has invested huge amounts of money in the development of this type of weapons, commensurate with the GDP of some states. Today it is difficult to judge the results of efforts in the field of fighter aviation, there is very little information about them, from which two conclusions are possible: either the tests are so successful that they should be kept secret, or they are extremely unsuccessful. In this case, the second option is more likely. The Pentagon willingly talks about its own victories, and even usually exaggerates them a little.
Unmanned attack aircraft "Predator"
But the attack drone is in the spotlight. This type of weapon was used during the operation against Libya (2011). The most common type, Predator, was used, which has fairly good characteristics. The ability to carry missiles for firing at ground targets or guided bombs, high (over 7 thousand m) ceilingcompensate for the relatively low speed. Control is carried out from ground stations, and recently the possibility of remote piloting from bases located in the United States through satellite communication channels is being worked out. Such information obsession sometimes does not always play into the hands of countries with impressive technological achievements. During a reconnaissance flight over Iraq in 2008, one of the "Traitors" supplied information not only to its armed forces, but also to rebel units. It turned out by chance, after the capture of one of the militants, who was found to have a laptop computer with a video recording. Software developed in Russia was used to read the video stream.
During their military career, the "Traitors" suffered losses. They were shot down over Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Several crashed due to piloting errors and technical problems. At present, the design of this type of UAV is not a secret. Anyone can even purchase such unmanned aerial vehicles. Prices depend on the configuration, however, the most modest version of the "toy" will cost a seven-figure dollar amount (about five million).
UAVs of all countries
The US leadership strives for military-technological superiority, believing that the more complex military equipment, the more effective it is. This is not always the case, but when assessing the potential of a particular technical sample, the interests of manufacturing firms should also be taken into account. Todayit became clear to many military analysts that the role of UAVs in a real military situation is great, but it is difficult to call it decisive, even with the greatest stretch. Of course, they help the ground forces, but they cannot ensure complete success, which is indirectly confirmed by the not very victorious results of the US Army campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nevertheless, many countries have joined the race, the goal of which was to create the most advanced flying robot. The characteristics of drones are different depending on the tasks they have to solve.
Israel has achieved the greatest success in this field of mechanical engineering. Here, of course, the features of the Middle East theater of operations matter. The distances are small, intelligence has to work almost in real time. Initially, high requirements for the TTD of drones set the pace for the development of this class of weapons, and at present, all countries at risk of local conflicts are trying to borrow Israel's experience by purchasing equipment from it or producing their own developments. These include Turkey, India, Britain, almost all European NATO member countries and, of course, Russia.
Drone Adventures in Russia
It should be noted with sadness that the capabilities of this class of weapons in our country were not immediately properly assessed. Most of the impressive achievements of our military-industrial complex are based on Soviet developments, which, for all their merits, are doomed, like any other technique, to moralaging. During Serdyukov's leadership of the Ministry of Defense, an impressive amount of five billion rubles (about $170 million) was spent on Russian drones, but the effect was very modest. According to the minister himself, domestic developments could not be compared with foreign models. However, the presence of imperfect drones is better than their complete absence. Then (2009) it was decided to first purchase in Israel, and then the joint production of these reconnaissance vehicles.
The total amount of the contract with Aeronautics Defense Systems was more than fifty million US dollars (for 12 units). The next five Orbiter UAVs differed from the previous ones in an expanded configuration, so they cost more, at 600 thousand each.
What can be done, taking into account the experience of the most successful countries, should not be confused with other tasks that can be solved exclusively by domestic means. The dual-purpose reconnaissance vehicles produced by the joint venture can only provide an initial impetus for Russian production. The Tupolev firm, which is striving to create an unmanned strike system Tu-300, took up the matter. There are other developments, decisions on the purchase of which are made by the Ministry of Defense on a competitive basis.
The amount of budgetary funds allocated for the program and the technological level of the domestic defense complex allow us to hope that soon Russian drones will become the best in the world. Or at least notinferior in anything to foreign counterparts. Of particular interest are machines designed for electronic warfare.
How to use it?
Control of unmanned aerial vehicles is the same speci alty as the regular profession of a pilot. An expensive and complex car can easily be smashed to the ground, making an inept landing. It can be lost as a result of an unsuccessful maneuver or shelling by the enemy. Like a regular plane or helicopter, you need to try to save the drone and get it out of the danger zone. The risk, of course, is not the same as in the case of a "live" crew, but you should not scatter expensive equipment either. Today, in most countries, instructor and training work is carried out by experienced pilots who have mastered the control of UAVs. As a rule, they are not professional educators and computer technicians, so this approach is unlikely to last for a long time. The requirements for a "virtual pilot" are different from those that apply to a future cadet upon admission to a flight school. It can be assumed that the competition among applicants for the speci alty "UAV operator" will be considerable.
Bitter Ukrainian experience
Without going into the political background of the armed conflict in the eastern regions of Ukraine, one can note the extremely unsuccessful attempts to conduct aerial reconnaissance by An-30 and An-26 aircraft. If the first of them was developed specifically for aerial photography (mainly peaceful), then the second is an exclusively transport modification of the passenger An-24. Both planes were shot downmilitia fire. But what about the drones of Ukraine? Why were they not used to obtain information about the deployment of rebel forces? The answer is simple. There are none.
Against the backdrop of a permanent financial crisis in the country, the funds needed to create modern weapons were not found. UAVs of Ukraine are at the stage of draft designs or simple improvised devices. Some of them are assembled from radio-controlled aircraft models purchased at the Pilotage store. The militias do the same. Not so long ago, an alleged downed Russian drone was shown on Ukrainian television. The photo, which shows a small and not the most expensive model (without any damage) with a homemade video camera attached, can hardly serve as an illustration of the aggressive military power of the "northern neighbor".
