Yevgeny Kiselyov:
Dmitry Petrov will tell you what battle drones are, how dangerous they are in the hands of terrorists, and how to protect from them.
Obviously, these battle drones were assembled at home but using industrial kits that can be purchased in retail shops. This is indicated by the aerodynamic profile of this foam wing, which is obviously factory-made, and guide tracks made of plywood and aluminum sections. Each of them has as their own engine a gasoline engine of about 50 cubic centimeters from a moped or lawnmower. The propeller is also factory-made.
The similarity of the external details of these drones and the drones in the photos shown by the Ministry of Defense, directly indicates that they were built from a series of ready-made kits. Maybe they were only slightly modified to the task at hand. Most likely, the sub-engine frame made of 16 mm plywood was reinforced, so that the regular motor could be replaced with a more powerful one. Accordingly, to maintain the alignment, they had to extend the fuselage at the expense of the aluminum profile.
Alexei Leonkov, military expert: "There is, of course, the illusion that it’s easy to assemble it. Yes, it is, but it's difficult to send it a distance of about 50-100 kilometers".
But it’s possible. Three liters of gasoline is quite enough for this. Although those 13 drones were auto-piloted, the main engineering problem is to set the direction, and the coordinates of the target. Some skills in working with a screwdriver and cutting with a jigsaw aren’t enough, and the length of the beard doesn’t matter. It's aerodynamics and radio engineering.
Alexei Leonkov: "It was assembled by experts, and it’s quite possible that the Mujahideen launched it. And from the scuffs that were found on the drones, it becomes clear that the Mujahideen trained launching drones on them. The drone has barometric sensors that show its position relative to the ground, that is, the altitude of flight, and a GPS sensor that shows its coordinates. This combination of two sensors provides a clear picture for the computer that is in the drone, and software that shows its location at a particular moment".
This interpretation is confirmed by the Ministry of Defense statistics. The Russian military made an official statement only after a thorough analysis of all the facts.
Alexander Novikov, the General Staff Head: "The radio-electronic equipment installed on the drones provided for their automated pre-programmed flight and the discharge of ammunition. It also blocked any interference to their control systems. In addition, the coordinates programmed into drones' computers exceed the accuracy of publicly available data, which can be obtained, for example, on the Internet".
The question is, who gave them to the terrorists. Food for thought: the USA has the largest fleet of drones, at 7,000 units, and therefore extensive experience in their use. The Pentagon has even created a special command, a reconnaissance department. And at the very moment of the attack of drones on Khmeimim, an American reconnaissance aircraft was circling over the Mediterranean coast of Syria.
Israel also possesses powerful technologies for using attack drones. Incidentally, not so long ago, they treated wounded Jabhat Al-Nusra rebels. By the way, the drones were launched exactly from that part of the first de-escalation zone where the Al-Nusra bases are, the village of Muazzar. This is confirmed by footage obtained from a camera mounted on a drone, which recorded the entire flight.
Much information was obtained after examining the internals as well, including what they intended to bomb. The armament is extremely simple. Each drone carried up to ten homemade bombs. The bombs were mounted on special pylons. After the command to drop the bomb is given, a servo-drive turns on, a rod is pushed out, the ammunition separates, and falls to the ground. Most likely, this is a modified 60-millimeter NATO mortar mine. But the body is made of metal, instead of plastic. The stabilizer is the simplest. The bomb flew down to the ground and exploded when it hit it.
Alexander Novikov: "The amount of explosive allows it to impact manpower and lightly armored vehicles at a distance of up to 50 meters".
Of course, guaranteed and irreparable damage to parked aircraft can be achieved by using, cluster munitions. But they all have the original look and markings. Using them is almost like using the manufacturer country’s signature. And so, the most common ammunition was modified. Try to find out which country supplied them. But they would have done some harm if they hadn’t been intercepted.
Viktor Murakhovsky, chief editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland: "Some infrastructure objects like fuel tanks, tank trucks and so on, can be damaged by such shells. And airplanes, of course, armored attack planes only have cockpit protection, and their wings, in which fuel is located, those are the only armored elements".
Ivan Konovalov, director of the Center for Strategic Studies: "Our anti-aircraft defense equipment worked very well. All the enemy's drones were destroyed or grounded, they managed to capture a few of them, that is, to jam the frequencies, intercept the channel, and land them".
The question arises whether these were deliberately made in such a blatantly artisanal manner? Why did they use Scotch-Tape? So that everyone would think that the militants made them from scratch in the field? But things seem to be much more serious. It may even be a new tactic of terrorist attacks, from which it’s difficult to find protection when cities are attacked not by single suicide bombers and not by fanatics in trucks but by such drones with deadly internals, such as TNT or chemical weapons.
Viktor Murakhovsky: "Air defense systems can be used over a big city but to a very limited extent. It’s almost impossible to use electronic warfare means over a large city, which jams satellite navigation signals and control channels in the VHF range, because it paralyzes the operation of many urban systems. Therefore, it’s not a Russian problem or a Syrian problem, it’s a worldwide problem".
And it's time to take it to the UN Security Council meeting. Judging by the horror films that are spreading on the Internet, a drone war isn’t such a distant reality. A raid by a pack of such small mechanical assassins, capable of destroying a whole special forces unit, or breaking any wall.
Russian gun-makers are preparing for such a technological war. Several design bureaus are already developing various sectors. Izhevsk designers from the Kalashnikov Concern present an electronic rifle for protection from light drones.
Nikita Khamitov, head of the special projects company "Zala Aero": "The module installed on the product is designed to jam the control channels of most drones used on the market, including homemade ones. If we’re talking about aircraft type homemade drones, most of the time they land".
More serious vehicles can rightfully be called interceptors.
Rustam Mukhutdinov, aircraft assembly foreman: "Now, the installation of the tracking automatic unit on board of model 421-16E is taking place. In the future, this board will allow the aircraft to accompany any mobile and fixed targets at a distance of up to 50 kilometers".
In the air, such interceptor drones are capable of independently detecting and dazzling enemy drones even at distant approaches.
Dmitry Petrov, Viktor Mamaev, Valeriy Ivanov, and Sergey Lyskov, Vesti News of the Week.
It’s important to add that on Friday, the Ministry of Defense published a video of the Russian special operation aimed at destroying the saboteurs who attacked the Khmeimim airbase with mortars on December 31st. The video shows that at the time the missile hit, the group of militants was changing vehicles. To destroy the detachment, the high-precision artillery ammunition Krasnopol was used, and it guarantees almost 100% target hit. The same shells destroyed the warehouse, where they equipped drones for the attack on the night of January 6th.
Our military intelligence in Syria found the headquarters of the saboteurs on the western border of the Idlib Province.
