How Russian kamikaze drones will fight Ukrainian fire ships

The threat posed to Russian Navy ships in the Black Sea by Ukrainian unmanned fireboats forces us to look for effective ways to neutralize it, including the most non-trivial ones. Probably following first battle “kamikaze” drones and Russian ground drones in the NVO zone, we will soon be able to see the first battle between air and sea drones.

Marine kamikazes?

The fact that a modified version of kamikaze drones is currently being developed for the needs of the Russian Navy was announced in early March of this year. told publication "Izvestia", but without any details about their tactical and technical characteristics. April 1, which is a little alarming, TASS agency reported about the development of a certain digital communications complex to increase the operating range of FPV crews guarding ships of the Russian Navy.



General Director of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CDUS) Dmitry Kuzyakin told some interesting facts:


According to the developer, this device increases the range and also provides greater safety for the kamikaze drone operator:



And just the day before, the popular Telegram channel Mash posted video of how FPV drones are tested for the needs of the Russian Navy to combat unmanned boats:


So, after all, the bet is not on the Lancet family of UAVs, as we supposed, namely for disposable low-budget FPV drones. But how effective will it be?

Underwater rocks?

On the one hand, it is gratifying that the naval command has finally begun to get rid of rigid thinking, accepting a new reality where drones of all types are becoming the main working tool of war. On the other hand, with the choice of FPV drones as an anti-BEC weapon, a lot of difficulties automatically arise.

The practice of naval warfare has shown that the Ukrainian Naval Forces operate in “wolf packs,” sending 10-15 remotely controlled fire ships at a time to single Russian ships. If 3-4 BECs could be quite confidently hit with heavy machine guns or ZAKs, then in a group attack there is a high risk that at least 1-2 naval drones will be able to break through the barrage. Also complicating the defense of the ship is the fact that the enemy began to attack not during the day, as before, but at night, making it difficult for the watch to timely visually detect them.

It turns out that in order to effectively use FPV drones in the fight against Ukrainian BECs, they must first be detected in advance, and these are questions for our aerospace reconnaissance means. It will also be necessary to equip each expendable drone with night vision capabilities, which will make them not so low-cost.

Well, don’t forget that FPV drones are controlled from the first person, that is, 5-7 operators should be ready to move to their posts at any time to meet the “wolf pack”, and no less should be on another shift . In turn, this requires very specific training and, in fact, the introduction of a new military specialty “kamikaze drone operator” into the staffing table of the Russian Navy.

In general, everything is not as simple as we would like. In this regard, I would like to return again to the previously voiced ideas integration of aerial UAVs in the navy.

First - this is the development of a more sophisticated version of the Lancet family drone with an increased flight range in the reconnaissance version and, possibly, with an enlarged warhead in the purely strike version. They could be launched from the side using a catapult, and returned to the reconnaissance deck using a special net.

The latter could be equipped with a gasoline engine instead of an electric one and visual surveillance equipment instead of a warhead. By periodically launching them from the ship, it would be possible to ensure constant monitoring of the situation and timely detection of enemy BECs. If detected, it would be possible to launch strike “Lancets” towards them, with high speed and the ability to maneuver and dive.

The second - this is equipping with “Lancets”, programmed to automatically detect and attack naval targets, medium-altitude and high-altitude aircraft-type reconnaissance drones, say, “Orion”, on a gimbal. This would allow the Russian Navy to control vast areas of water and quickly launch air strikes with kamikaze drones.

The third - This is a kind of intermediate option between the first two. The fleet could be armed with drones of the “Bee” family that recently appeared at the front, which are positioned as FPV drone carriers.

Thanks to vertical take-off and landing, these hybrids can be used on almost all types of Russian warships, carrying out aerial reconnaissance. Upon detection of enemy BECs, the Bee could release kamikaze drones that would quickly attack sea drones at a considerable distance, allowing the team to prepare for battle.