Soviet/Russian UAV and UCAV projects

[hesham]

Hi,

what was this (the upper one) ?, a UAV or ?.

 

[Abingdon]

Its the Yakovlev izd. 60S, ancestor to the Pchela-1M UAV. Here's a view of the Pchela-1M at the Zadorozhniy technical museum that took over most of the stuff from the Yakovlev museum that used to be in the Leningradskiy Prospekt neighborhood of Moscow.

 

[aonestudio]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLQiT5q_tlc

 

[shin_getter]

Illustration of the state of Russian UAV industry:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIkoR4OtOEs

We wanted to send this "space-age" technology to our Western partners.

We sent them a couple of photos.

They said, this cannot be, may be you are trying to trick us. You deal with this.

And that's what we are doing.

Let's take a look at these "super" technical solutions.

This is something that our children can make during in school clubs.

This is the camera block, used to spot positions of our troops.

Claimed to be "Made in Russia", but in reality it is a Canon camera attached with velcro tape.

It can be removed and used by a military journalist, as it is intact and undamaged.

Look, they used glue to fix the mode selection wheel so that in flight, camera does not accidentally turn off.

Then they manually set up zoom and off it went.

There are many other components that I am not going to waste my time on describing.

But let me show you the most important one.

Something that all Russian technology cannot exist without -- a bottle.

I am serious. It's not a fake.

You can see words "fuel" and "ignition".

Here you can see a cap for a recycled plastic bottle that was inserted into the body of the drone.

Without a bottle Russia is not Russia.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Illustration of the state of Russian UAV industry:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIkoR4OtOEs

We wanted to send this "space-age" technology to our Western partners.

We sent them a couple of photos.

They said, this cannot be, may be you are trying to trick us. You deal with this.

And that's what we are doing.

Let's take a look at these "super" technical solutions.

This is something that our children can make during in school clubs.

This is the camera block, used to spot positions of our troops.

Claimed to be "Made in Russia", but in reality it is a Canon camera attached with velcro tape.

It can be removed and used by a military journalist, as it is intact and undamaged.

Look, they used glue to fix the mode selection wheel so that in flight, camera does not accidentally turn off.

Then they manually set up zoom and off it went.

There are many other components that I am not going to waste my time on describing.

But let me show you the most important one.

Something that all Russian technology cannot exist without -- a bottle.

I am serious. It's not a fake.

You can see words "fuel" and "ignition".

Here you can see a cap for a recycled plastic bottle that was inserted into the body of the drone.

Without a bottle Russia is not Russia.

Well, that's... interesting. Free Canon SLR with every shot down drone....

 

[Trident]

Not sure it's necessarily an indictment of the system though - this type of UAV you have to expect to lose left and right, so making it as cheap and disposable as possible is not a bad idea. Fact of the matter is, these things have been causing forces opposing the Russians quite a bit of trouble in various theatres and they have very competitive endurance, so crude or not, they apparently do the job.

There's a lot of semi-informed analysis deeply coloured by sympathy with Ukraine going round Twitter. Understandable but not necessarily helpful to the cause - it doesn't follow that this is indicative of the industry in its entirety. A case in point was the wreckage of the Inokhodets recently shot down. One commentator slammed the construction of the sensor turret (apparently believing it to be Russian) while grudgingly contrasting it with the modern composite airframe. Funnily enough, the turret platform is one of the Western systems (Airbus DS Optronics Argos) onboard, though carrying Russian-built sensor payloads.

 

[Saber]

Not sure it's necessarily an indictment of the system though - this type of UAV you have to expect to lose left and right, so making it as cheap and disposable as possible is not a bad idea. Fact of the matter is, these things have been causing forces opposing the Russians quite a bit of trouble in various theatres and they have very competitive endurance, so crude or not, they apparently do the job.

There's a lot of semi-informed analysis deeply coloured by sympathy with Ukraine going round Twitter. Understandable but not necessarily helpful to the cause - it doesn't follow that this is indicative of the industry in its entirety. A case in point was the wreckage of the Inokhodets recently shot down. One commentator slammed the construction of the sensor turret (apparently believing it to be Russian) while grudgingly contrasting it with the modern composite airframe. Funnily enough, the turret platform is one of the Western systems (Airbus DS Optronics Argos) onboard, though carrying Russian-built sensor payloads.

Orlans are also some of the oldest Russian UAVs in inventory, bootstrapped into existence after 2008 war.

A lot of the new Zala models use a lot of custom made parts now days, in search of better performance, with custom optics. Like this one.

View: https://youtu.be/XG9n1eDF8CI


Believe there is another Orlan replacement called Merlin.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Another Orlan "Unboxing."

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sPKSMeonxg


Some may make fun of the use of cheap commercial components, but if it works, it works. Selling them for a hundred-twenty grand may be a bit much, though.

 

[flateric]

QI...

 

[Stargazer]

Antigrad-Avia A-03 "Nart" UAV (the nart was apparently a traditional Mongol sledge).
Source: Aviapanorama № 67 (2008 №1, January-February)

Antigrad-Avia, LLC
Research and production center

"Nart" Multipurpose Aviation System

Purpose

The "Nart" MAS is intended for:
- weather modifications to prevent the formation of catastrophic natural weather phenomena such as hail, rainfall, tornadoes, typhoons by the method of active influence on meteorological processes;
- artificially causing precipitation in arid areas;
- performing aerial monitoring of various types — highways, water and terrestrial surfaces, meteorological, environmental, especially in areas of natural and man-made disasters;
- performing aerial cultivation of farmland in order to eliminate weeds, plant diseases, various pests, increase soil fertility in accordance with modern agrotechnical and environmental requirements;
- prompt and all-season delivery of goods to hard-to-reach and remote areas.

Composition of the system
The "Nart" MAS includes:
- unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs);
- means of ensuring the launch of the UAV;
- ground control point for preparation for flight and flight of the UAV (GCP);
- automated system for monitoring and controlling active influences (ASC AI) on meteorological processes;
- means of ensuring the functioning of the complex.

Use of the system when performing weather modification
When receiving a forecast for the possibility of a cloud front with dangerous potential, the automated meteorological system of the automated control system begins scanning the airspace using a weather radar. After the front is detected, it is tracked, the hazard is classified, and the spatio-temporal coordinates of the area of possible formation of catastrophic weather phenomena are predicted.The predicted coordinates are transmitted to the control center in order to establish a flight program for preparation for flight and flight of the UAV. The prepared flight program is entered into the on-board control system of the UAV when preparing it for departure.
The UAV starts on command from the control point and performs a flight according to a given program. If necessary, the unfulfilled part of the flight mission can be corrected from the control point via radio channel. At a given spatial point and at a set time, the UAV drops cassettes from which mini-missiles with a reagent are fired, sprayed along the missiles’ flight paths at a distance of up to 3.5 km. The reagent causes premature precipitation and thereby prevents the development of adverse weather phenomena to a catastrophic scale.After completing the task, the UAV enters the specified area, lands and is evacuated using a transport vehicle to the technical position of the complex in preparation for the next flight.or storage.
The system ensures the execution of tasks within a 300-350 km radius zone, developed in a stationary version (all components are placed in an industrial module of the “Kislovodsk” type, installed in the center of the zone) and mobile on KamAZ vehicles). Having formed a single network from the "Nart" MAS), ensuring information interaction between the complexes, it seems possible to create on the territory of the country a multifunctional information and transport system (MITS), which has no analogues in the world, solving a wide range of problems in the interests of various consumers of services: Federal departments (Roshydromet, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Natural Resources, law enforcement agencies, etc.) , regional services, individual companies.​

Range of possible basic characteristics for UAV "A-03"

Characteristics
Length of UAV (mm)	4200...5200
Wingspan (mm)	4500 ... 9000
Maximum takeoff weight (kg)	350... 1100
Weight of payload (chemicals) (kg)	up to 500
Payload compartment volume (cubic m)	0.35 ... 1.0
Number and type of engines (main variants)	2 x RPD-317
Maximum engine power (hp)	2 x 90
Flight altitude (m)	up to 8000
Cruise speed (km/h)	100... 450
Maximum vertical speed at N = 0 (m/s)	12.0... 20.0
Maximum flight time at N = 0 (hr)	up to 50
Dimensions of landing area (m x m)	300 x 300

 

[Stargazer]

More images of the A-03 "Nart" UAV, and related pages in Russian:



Sources:
- https://drone-catalog.ru/product/а-03-нарт/
- http://авиару.рф/aviamuseum/aviatsiya/rf/bpla/mnogotselevoj-bpla-a-03-nart/
- http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bpla/a03.html