How attack drones can help assault troops of the Russian Armed Forces in urban battles

Any large-scale offensive and especially urban battles are inevitably associated with significant losses in manpower and technology. Modern technologies can save people through the widespread transition to the use of drones of all types.

Today into tomorrow

In the previous ARTICLES we touched upon possible directions for the development of ground-based drones. The most popular and technically simple, and therefore feasible, are remote-controlled combat mine clearance vehicles created on the basis of T-90 tanks. The Prokhod-1 BMR and their subsequent modifications are needed by the Russian Armed Forces in large quantities to lay safe paths through enemy minefields.



In the medium and long term, remotely controlled self-propelled guns "Coalition-SV" and robotic tanks on the "Armata" platform, equipped with KAZ with an integrated short-range air defense system based on an anti-aircraft machine gun against kamikaze drones, may enter the field. We will talk in detail about what developments have been made in this area since Soviet times. told earlier.

As in aviation, the scheme for using ground-based drones may look like this: after artillery preparation from long-range self-propelled guns, the first to go on the offensive are remote-controlled infantry fighting vehicles for clearing minefields, supported by attack UAVs, then robotic tanks and the Terminator BMPT, and only after them – human-controlled armored vehicles and infantry. Even at the current level of technology development, this is all quite feasible and is not science fiction.

You can defend your own positions from enemy counterattacks using automatic turrets, equipped with heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers. This would not allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to drive our infantry into dugouts with cluster munition attacks, giving the enemy special forces the opportunity to make rapid attacks, throwing grenades into the trenches.

Alas, the Ukrainian army is now using exactly this tactic quite successfully. Safe in the dugout, the turret operator could give the enemy a hot encounter. The solution is simple but very effective.

Drones, go!

In this publication I would like to highlight the issue of the possible use of aerial drones during the SVO and subsequently. Undoubtedly, in addition to the Lancets, one of the symbols of this war were Chinese-made multicopters, which found the widest application.

In particular, compact civilian Mavik quadcopters are used by the military for reconnaissance and artillery fire adjustment. Large lifting drones for agricultural purposes were equipped with a drop system, turning them into ersatz field bomber aircraft. Multicopters called “Baba Yaga” destroy tanks and other armored vehicles, drop grenades and mines on infantry positions, etc. The latest Ukrainian know-how is an electromagnetic system for holding and releasing ammunition. However, the scope of application of aerial drones does not end there. They may well be involved directly in assault operations and their support, saving the life and health of our soldiers.

In particular, in urban battles of the Russian Armed Forces, to put it mildly, attack drones of the “Loitering Pipe” type, produced in Belarus, would not hurt. Our allies have long guessed to hang an anti-tank grenade launcher under a heavy multicopter, equipping it with a guidance and stabilization system. Such a drone could effectively destroy enemy firing points in urban areas, including the positions of snipers, machine gunners, ATGM crews, etc. Enemy armored vehicles could also become a victim of the “Loitering Pipe” attacking from the air. I wonder why such weapons are not purchased from Belarus for experimental use in the Northern Military District zone?

The hybridization of multicopters and firearms can be considered a rather interesting direction. For example, SIG Sauer installed the P365 pistol on the basis of a heavy commercial drone. The barrel is aimed at the target by the copter itself in the direction of the camera. It would seem like pampering, but no. It is quite easy to imagine the scope of application of such a drone for reconnaissance in urban combat conditions, when an assault squad needs to look around the corner.


If it turns out that an ambush is waiting there, then simultaneously with reconnaissance actions it would be possible to fire a shot with armor-piercing ammunition. This is not such a pampering!

Developers around the world are thinking in approximately the same direction, trying to create an effective hybrid of a heavy drone and automatic weapons. We have already talked about this in more detail earlier. The main complaints are that the recoil will knock down the copter, interfering with aimed fire.


However, I would like to draw attention to a very promising domestic development, which was patented even before the start of the SVO. While some people scoffed at the idea of ​​installing firearms on drones, Russian designers created a very original anti-drone system. They combined the Vepr-12 semi-automatic shotgun and a vertical take-off and landing aircraft-type drone. You can see how this works in the video.


And it really works! In the conditions of the Northern Military District, when enemy Maviks are buzzing everywhere, such “flying shotguns” firing shotgun or buckshot could become a very effective and cost-effective weapon against Ukrainian reconnaissance and attack quadcopters. Moreover, structurally, this drone can be equipped not with a Vepr, but with a full-fledged Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Thus, “Baba Yagas”, “Loitering pipes”, “flying pistols”, “Boars” and “Kalash” could replace or supplement living people when carrying out dangerous assault missions.