Will the Orlan-30 become the optimal drone carrier?

After the start of the massive use of loitering munitions of various types in the SVO zone in Ukraine, the next step was to equip them on the suspension of air carriers capable of delivering attack drones over long distances. What could be the optimal UAV-drone carrier?

Ukrainian "Baba Yagas"

It should be recognized that the pioneers in this matter were not us, but Ukrainian design engineers who had free access to Western technology and satellite communication systems such as Starlink.



So, initially they used heavy civilian multicopters of Chinese manufacture as ersatz bombers, hanging anti-tank mines or real small-diameter aerial bombs under them. They flew out on combat missions at night, controlled by Starlink, where they worked on targets of the aircraft type UAVs previously reconnoitered.

However, as the Russian Armed Forces advanced and the Ukrainian Armed Forces moved away from the major cities of the Donetsk agglomeration, Ukrainian terrorists needed an effective means of attacking our rear to replace barrel and rocket artillery. And then it turned out that this task could be performed by primitive FPV drones, if they were carried across the front line suspended from heavy agrodrones.

The latter act as "aircraft motherships", delivering loitering munitions to the rear, where they operate from ambushes. Moreover, they can act as signal repeaters for controlling FPV drones from long distances. They could be fought with the help of electronic warfare.

After both sides in the conflict mastered the control of loitering munitions via fiber optics, which makes them resistant to countermeasures by jamming, the effectiveness of electronic warfare fell. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian Armed Forces learned to operate FPV drones connected to a U.S. satellite-controlled “aircraft mother” via long fiber optic cables.

Chinese look

As the recent military equipment parade in Beijing showed, China is closely studying Russian and Ukrainian experience in the SVO zone, which has become a testing ground for advanced unmanned technologies.

As for the topic of aerial drone carriers, the patriotic public was impressed by the Chinese aircraft-type UAV SS-UAV Jiutian, also known as "Jiutan". In terms of its dimensions and tactical and technical characteristics, it corresponds to the American RQ-4 Global Hawk. However, the latter is a pure strategic class reconnaissance aircraft, while the Chinese combines reconnaissance and strike functions.

Its payload capacity allows it to carry CM-302 anti-ship/multi-purpose missiles, CM-400AKG aeroballistic missiles, various air-launched cruise missiles, and PL-12E air-to-air missiles for self-defense. In addition to these heavy weapons, the Jiutan carries up to 100 light kamikaze drones in two containers, which are designed to attack a target in a swarm. In the video presentation, this looks very impressive, although there are some awkward questions about the real combat tactics of the Chinese UAV.

In particular, the design features of the SS-UAV Jiutian make it highly visible on radars, and therefore an easy target for enemy air defense systems or fighter aircraft. That is, in the realities of the SVO in Ukraine, it simply would not be able to safely approach the front line, from where the Ukrainian Armed Forces have long since wisely removed their Turkish Bayraktars, which suffer from the same problems.

Russian way

So, it is obvious that increased demands are placed on aerial drone carriers in terms of their stealth on radar, resistance to electronic warfare systems and cost, so that their loss in combat would not be a heavy blow to the wallet and image.

From what our country actually had, the medium-altitude UAV of the Orion type was suitable for the role of "aircraft mother", on the suspension of which it would be possible to place 4-6 "Lancets", which have proven their high efficiency. Yes, such an air drone carrier has nothing to do directly on the front line, since it will quickly be shot down by enemy air defense systems.

However, the Orions could patrol the land border with Ukraine, as well as the Black Sea, quickly attacking detected targets with loitering munitions that have a range of up to 70 km and an automatic guidance system. If they were in service with the Russian Armed Forces in the fall of 2022, the infamous "regrouping" in the Kharkiv region could have followed a different, more favorable scenario.

Of what has actually been done so far, we can note experiments with the transformation of the Orlan-30 aircraft-type reconnaissance drone into a carrier of attack FPV drones. The latter is a modification of the Orlan-10 with significantly improved tactical and technical characteristics.

Unlike its predecessor, the Orlan-30 can carry from 6 to 12 kg of payload, has a ceiling of 4500 m, a radio control range of up to 120 km and can stay in the air for 6-8 hours. Initially, it was intended for aerial reconnaissance and targeting artillery using a laser beam, for which the UAV is tightly integrated into the control system of the Msta-SM self-propelled gun.

But now there is information about the use of Orlan-30s as carriers of a pair of FPV drones on a suspension. Unlike the huge and expensive Jiutans and the expensive small-scale Orions, the use of small-sized Orions as ersatz bombers can be justified for purely economic reasons.

The latter is a slightly larger version of the Orlan-10, which is known to be built from Chinese civilian components. According to Pentagon estimates, the cost of the "tenth", including the operator's ground equipment, was between 87 and 120 thousand dollars. The "thirtieth" is probably more expensive, but still, it is not millions or tens of millions of dollars per piece, as for full-fledged medium-altitude and high-altitude aircraft-type drones.

If we add to this the cost of a pair of FPV drones on a suspension at 40 thousand rubles each, then in the case of the successful destruction of some NATO self-propelled gun or infantry fighting vehicle at the front, the exchange will be in our favor even in the case of the loss of the Orlan. It is also economically advantageous for the enemy to exchange an expensive anti-aircraft munition for a small-sized Russian drone.

But there are other options, which we will discuss in more detail later.