On the battlefields. That’s where drones have proven their worth. Not only in Ukraine, but also in Syria and especially in Nagorno-Karabakh, people realized that drones came to change the way people fight. Where the Azeris enlisted the Turkish Bayraktar to shatter the steel will of the Armenians and lead them to defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2020 the Turks\u2014who invested heavily in this industry because of the pilot shortage brought about by the post-coup purge and US sanctions that rendered the country’s warplanes obsolete\u2014seem to be pioneers, and they were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ultimate drone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The largest drone attack in human history attempted by Iran failed, as they were, as it turned out, moving at the speed of\u2026 a caravan of camels in the desert. Thus, they were easily detected and neutralized. But not all drones are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Case in point is the example of the world’s most sophisticated, capable and deadliest drone, the US MQ-9 Reaper. Not only because it has thousands (!) of successful attacks in its\u2026 career, used to neutralize high-value targets such as “Al-Qaeda” leaders, but also because it is capable of reconnaissance, bombing, weapons transport, cover vast distances at enormous heights, even engaging in dogfights in self-defense! So today’s top combat UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), the MQ-9 Reaper (also known as the Predator B), has the advantage that it can not only operate as a remote-controlled (piloted by humans on the ground) but also perform autonomous flight operations. It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and the main reason for its creation was the needs of the United States Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moving at high speed – about 500 km\/h -, the MQ-9 can cover a range of 1,900 kilometers and fly at an altitude of 15,400 meters continuously for a day and a half. But that’s not what makes it deadly. It’s the fact that it can carry and fire deadly weapons, including the GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb, the AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-surface missile, the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, and the GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). In addition, it can be equipped with the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile. Think about it: it can carry up to 16 Hellfire missiles for an attack – as many as an Apache attack helicopter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Reaper the letter “M” stands for “Multirole”, i.e. multi-purpose, the “Q” for remote control. That’s what makes it so important. That (as it has proven in its millions of hours of operational flights) it can be used for surveillance without being detected, to hunt down sensitive targets and execute them (as it did with senior officials of “Al Qaeda”, ISIS, etc.) , to bomb and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it also has disadvantages: at a cost of about $56.5 million per unit and about as much to fly as an F-16, the loss of such an aircraft (as happened recently over the Black Sea when a Russian Sukhoi shot it down by “spraying” it with fuel) looks disastrous. For the forces using it, however, the cost can be the same as an F-16, but without the pilots, as the operators of the MQ9 Reaper that will operate e.g. in the Middle East or the Black Sea they may be based at some base in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Iran’s ‘suicide’ drone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Shahed-136 that Iran used in large numbers to carry out the largest drone attack in human history, however, has completely different characteristics. It’s impressive in appearance and uses ultra-lightweight materials, but it’s not ‘loaded’ with so much technology. And that’s because his mission doesn’t include returning to his base. So it’s a suicide drone. It is about 3 meters long and has a range of about 1,700-2,000 kilometers, during which it travels at a maximum speed of 185 km\/h – a speed too low to escape even primitive air defense systems – and flies at a maximum height of 5 kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its nose, the Shahed-136 carries 50 kg of explosives which, compared to the approximately 250 kg of explosives that is the average capacity of a fighter jet bomb, is small. It is guided by remote control and can cooperate with satellite, while it has a system that does not easily allow interference. This very system gives it an accuracy of plus or minus 5 meters on its target. The Shahed-136 has the disadvantage of flying slowly, low and very noisy, according to analysts. Which either makes it an easy target to take down, or gives time to its targets to cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It therefore has little operational utility, especially when compared to the mighty MQ-9 Reaper. But it has another advantage: its low cost. The Americans estimate that each Shahed-136 costs about $50,000 to build. So its primary goal is to\u2026 shoot down, considering a cruise missile costs more than $1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forcing the enemy to use a $1 million missile to shoot down a $50,000 vehicle seems like a\u2026 good deal. Furthermore, it can be produced in large numbers easily and used for so-called “saturation attacks”. That is, to fly hundreds towards one or many targets, activating the enemy’s air defenses and exhausting them before the second and third wave of attack with ballistic missiles, for example, follows.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The others<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Americans have dozens of companies that produce and develop drones, the best in the world, and have the largest fleet on the planet. But they are not the only ones. Almost all countries use UAVs for military purposes, the most notable example being Ukraine, which even uses commercial civilian drones, which are loaded with explosives and sent for “suicide attacks”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China of course produces a number of military drones, with the most popular (as it sells it to several countries, such as the UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, etc., at a price of 1 million dollars per unit) the Chengdu GJ-1, or Wing Loong 1, or “Pterodactyl.” It is a medium-altitude long-range (MALE) UAV developed by China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, which is used for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance, and is capable of being equipped with air-to-surface missiles. It also produces the attack and reconnaissance CH-4A, which has a range of up to 5,000 km, can carry 6 weapons weighing up to 345 kg and has a top speed of 170 km\/h. China supplies a large part of the raw materials to Russia for the production of UAVs used in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turkey is another country that is one of the largest manufacturers of drones in the world and has one of the largest fleets. At the tip of its spear is the Bayraktar TB2, well-tested on the battlefields by the Azeris and the Ukrainians mainly, but also by the Turks against the Kurdish rebels in Libya, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 12-meter wingspan vehicle manufactured by Turkey’s Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret has a horsepower of 100 (versus the MQ9’s 900-plus), an operational ceiling of 8,200 meters and a top speed of 220 kph. It can carry and launch 4 “smart” bombs weighing a total of 300 kg and stay in the air for up to 27 hours at a time. Turkey produces many more drones with different uses, but the TB2, costing about 5-5 million dollars each, is the most popular. It has also become a propaganda war zone, with the Russians reporting that they have shot down almost all (around 100) Bayraktars that the Ukrainians had procured to bomb Russian forces in the Donbass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Under the radar” and without much fanfare, the largest exporter of UAVs in the world is Israel, as more than 50 countries – including ours – use the most sophisticated drones produced by the country. The most popular and famous is the IAI Heron, which has a purely reconnaissance role. It has a 200 hp diesel engine, a top speed of 280 km\/h, it can reach a maximum height of 9,100 meters and fly for 45 hours in it. Its advantage is that it can be sent on missions up to 1,000 kilometers away from its base operated by satellite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has a series of infrared cameras, radars and “intelligent” systems, with which it can point to centimeter-accurate targets on other weapons, such as fighter jets, missiles or Artillery. A major producer of drones is also Poland, whose WB Group produces a range of drones, most notably the Warmate munitions and the Orlik PGZ-19R and Orbiter UAVs. France produces Thales’ SpyRanger (mini UAVs for battlefield reconnaissance) and Safran Patroller, while Germany produces the very small (3.42m wingspan) Rheinmetall’s KZO. The UAV has a maximum height of 4,000 meters and a maximum speed of 220 km\/h, with its main missions being reconnaissance and targeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The future of conflict<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The world’s first drone, the British Aerial Target, was tested in March 1917, while the American Kettering Bug nicknamed the “Aerial Torpedo” flew in October 1918. That was the beginning. On the battlefield, drones were first used in World War II, but have only become particularly popular in recent years, used for reconnaissance and bombing, and even by the US and Israeli infantry forces, which use drones smaller than the palm of a hand to surveillance of premises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The future, however, if they go ahead with what the companies promise is very scary. The protagonists of this technology, the Americans, have tested ultrasonic drones that can be launched and launched on aircraft carriers, but also refueled in the air. Already, companies such as Lockheed Martin are preparing to launch super-capable drones that will be used to protect and carry out F-35 missions. In fact, the US Air Force has been testing the high-performance ultrasonic AI drone XQ-58 Valkyrie since 2019. But these are obsolete in the face of what US military officials describe as “an example of how terrifying wars will become”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the dozens of American companies that produce drones, some stand out that have fully autonomous swarms in the testing phase. These are small drones – in some cases carrying dozens of weapons (!) each – which will use Artificial Intelligence to select, locate and neutralize their targets. The first time a swarm of drones was used was by the Israeli IDF in May 2021, when a group of small drones, dubbed “X-Legion,” was sent to track down the Hamas leadership group. This, it seems, will be the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China also has similar programs. First of all, he has managed to create a drone which, when it approaches its target, splits into six drones (!) increasing the swarm, while the MD-22 of Guangdong Aerospace Science is also under development, which is faster than the American fighter F- 22!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drones \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 anti-drones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Are drones really that invincible? Like all war tactics, they also have their\u2026 antidote. Already the leading – and not only – armies of the world have developed a series of tactics and weapons to neutralize them. From the cutting edge, like laser beams and jammers, to the ingeniously simple, like net launchers – these are the most popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The technology that will really change warfare will be when tanks are replaced with exoskeletons for soldiers. Efforts are already being made and we are not far from the time when soldiers will be fighting in armor like the recently released Fallout series on Amazon (based on the video games). This will indeed be a revolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Iran launched its attack on Israel last week, it used hundreds of drones to do so. Many wondered why he didn’t just use…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2362,2845,7],"tags":[5338,3700,1976,2863],"class_list":["post-18096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military-science","category-military-strategy-doctrines","category-research","tag-anti-drones","tag-drones","tag-war","tag-warfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18100,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18096\/revisions\/18100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-61-1024x575.png\")
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