Lately, the number of long-range attack drones flying to bomb military targets in Russia has been in the hundreds. For the first time, Ukraine used more long-range drones in one night than the enemy. Thus, on the night of September 1, 158 Ukrainian UAVs attacked 15 regions of the Russian Federation, including Moscow.
But at the same time, it is not possible to solve the problem of the difficulty of launching long-range UAVs.
Military expert Yuriy Kasyanov writes about this: “Drones are not missiles that can be quickly fired (like the same Hymens), each drone needs vehicles for transportation, efforts to assemble, set up, check, refuel, prepare for launch… And finally, the most difficult part is launching the drones.”
The video shows how to launch a drone using a catapult.
Ways to launch drones
According to the expert, drones are launched in different ways:
- With the help of a catapult – this is the most common way to launch drones weighing up to 30 kg. Heavy and large drones require massive, complex catapults with a long interval between launches. That’s why heavy drones like the Luteus are more often launched by airfield launch from a suitable site. That’s why they have wheels – a chassis for launching.
Launching “from the wheels” is quite difficult, because you need to find a flat area. At the same time, it is difficult to choose an airfield because they are all under the enemy’s sights.
“Then you have to launch the drones at night by the light of the lanterns (practically in the dark), risking that they will fall on your head, or explode at the start, or God knows what else…” – Kasyanov notes.
- That’s why gunpowder boosters are used for launch. One or two small rocket engines lift the airplane to a given altitude and give it the necessary initial speed for flight. By the way, this is how the Shahids take off.
“The solution has been known for a long time, but powder accelerators (homemade, of course) do not always fly where they are supposed to, and the flames of rocket engines are visible far beyond tens or even hundreds of kilometers (especially at night) and attract the attention of enemy reconnaissance drones. And then wait for Iskander,” the expert writes.
A revolutionary solution
- Therefore, the revolution in drones will not be made by “rocket-drones” or “drone-rockets” but by creating a reliable, fast way to launch large drones literally on the move, on the go, with a short interval between launches, involving fewer personnel and special vehicles for launching.
“No one has such a solution yet – neither we, nor our enemy, nor our friends. Everyone launches large, long-range drones the old-fashioned way – with a pneumatic or hydraulic catapult, on the airfield, with powdered accelerators. Whoever is able to solve this complex engineering problem first will have serious advantages, will be able to launch more drones, faster, covertly…” Kasyanov points out.
The expert adds that there are at least two creative teams currently working on this problem, and their developments are supported by the B-52 Foundation. So we are looking forward to implementing solutions and accelerating drone launches.
The post Ukrainian Armed Forces need special launchers for drones first appeared on HiTechExpert.top.