Heavy shock drone "Zenica", aka "Altair. Domestic weapons and military equipment Attack drone zenitsa

SHOCK DRONE «ZENICA» MEDIUM-RANGE

13.12.2015


Russia is testing an attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that flies at speeds up to 800 km/h. This was announced to TASS on Saturday by a source in the Russian military-industrial complex.
“Now a drone is being tested, which can perform both reconnaissance and strike functions. Its speed will be up to 800 km/h. The tests are close to completion," the source said.
The payload of this device will be approximately 250 kg, the source said.
At the final meeting of the military department, which was held the day before, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the experience of performing combat missions in Syria showed that UAVs are indispensable in the course of hostilities.
“If in 2011 there were only 180 systems in the Armed Forces, now we have 1,720 modern UAVs,” he said.
The latest strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being tested in Russia could be armed with air-to-surface guided missiles. This opinion was expressed on Saturday by the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko.
TASS

08.06.2017


The new heavy strike drone of the Russian Federation may enter the state tests in 2018, said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov during a visit to the Simonov Experimental Design Bureau.
“Having passed the stage of development of an experimental sample, they raised this model into the air, and now they have already a prototype at the output. I think that during this and next year they will complete this work, enter the state tests, and the Russian army will have a new class of unmanned aerial vehicles,” Borisov said.
According to him, several years ago, the enterprise won a competition for the development of a heavy drone in a tough competition.
“We will consider the issue of public procurement from 2018. We are ready to buy the Zenitsa drone from 2018, and if state tests are completed in 2018, we will also buy a heavy drone. They are not inferior in their characteristics to those samples that are currently in service with the armies of the world,” Borisov added.
TASS

IMPACT UNMANNED VEHICLE "ZENITSA" MEDIUM RANGE

The Simonov Joint Design Bureau (former Sokol Design Bureau) and the Sukhoi holding are conducting research and development work on the creation of Zenitsa and Okhotnik-U medium and long-range attack unmanned aerial vehicles, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the defense industry.
“Currently, the Simonov Design Bureau is conducting research and development work on the creation of a Zenitsa medium-range strike UAV, the speed of which will be 800 km / h. Parallel to this, Sukhoi is developing a long-range strike UAV with a similar speed, Okhotnik-U," the agency's interlocutor said.
According to him, the Zenitsa UAV, which will be launched from an aircraft, is designed on the basis of the reconnaissance UAV Tu-143 "Reis" developed back in the 1980s by the Tupolev Design Bureau, weighing more than one ton. In turn, the Okhotnik-U UAV will be made in the form of a flying wing launched from the ground.
Earlier, the former head of the United Aircraft Corporation, Mikhail Pogosyan, told reporters that the drone, later called Okhotnik-U, should be created before 2020 and have a takeoff weight of 20 tons, the agency reminds.

Russia is restoring the missing link in the Aerospace Forces system

The Russian army in 2016 will begin to receive new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of overcoming ultra-long distances. In particular, the devices will go to the unmanned aircraft units of the Eastern Military District. Earlier, information appeared in the media that in 2016 promising UAVs capable of covering up to a thousand kilometers would be put into service.

According to experts, we are talking about heavy strike systems weighing from about 1 to 20 tons. Heavy vehicles can carry multiple bombs and even air-to-ground missiles. At the moment, the Russian army does not have shock and promising vehicles capable of performing reconnaissance over long distances.

The Russian military-industrial complex began work on the creation of such drones in the mid-2000s, but under Anatoly Serdyukov, the matter was limited to demonstrating prototypes or trying to buy UAVs from Israel. It is planned to fully fill the missing link in the system of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation by 2020.

"Hunter", "Pacer" and "Altius-M"

In January 2015, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov announced that Russia had created a heavy UAV capable of conducting reconnaissance and destroying targets. The performance characteristics of the device are kept secret. According to media reports, Sukhoi Design Bureau (Moscow), Sokol Design Bureau (Kazan) and Transas Aviation CJSC (St. Petersburg) are working on a heavy drone project.

At the beginning of October 2011, in the competition of the Ministry of Defense for the creation of UAVs weighing up to 1 ton, the Pacer project won, and up to 5 tons - the Altius-M project. A strike UAV weighing up to 20 tons is being developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau on the basis of the Skat project, which RAC MiG has been involved in since 2005. The new project was named "Hunter".

According to unconfirmed reports, the "Hunter" will simultaneously be a sixth generation fighter. Its first flight is expected in 2018, and its entry into the troops in 2020. Like the Skat, the new drone will take the form of a flying wing (the so-called "flying saucer").

Simultaneously with the Okhotnik, Sukhoi is conducting development work on the creation of a medium-range device Zenitsa, the speed of which will be 800 kilometers per hour. Presumably, this UAV is being created on the basis of the Tu-143 "Reis" developed in the 1970s, which is designed to conduct tactical reconnaissance in the frontline.

Another project of the Russian Aerospace Forces is Dozor-600, which belongs to the class of heavy medium-altitude drones with a long flight duration. Experts suggest that the device is a direct analogue of the American MQ-1 Predator. Despite the fact that the Dozor-600 weighs 720 kg, it is capable of performing the functions of a strike UAV.

Russia is catching up with the USA

The range of application of unmanned aircraft is extremely wide, but it is of particular importance in the modern theater of war. The operation of aircraft is more expensive, and their flight is fraught with a risk to the pilot's life: the enemy's air defense and air force are on the alert, and anything happens in the sky.

Therefore, a reconnaissance and strike drone is an excellent assistant to combat aviation and ground forces. In the future, drones will be able to carry out the most risky missions, which are now afraid to send aircraft, ground reconnaissance and special forces.

The significance of UAVs for the effectiveness of the actions of the armed forces in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was realized after the conflict with Georgia in August 2008, in which the enemy quite successfully used Israeli-made complexes. Initially, it was decided to eliminate the backlog in the field of UAVs by importing devices from Israel Aerospace Industries.

UAV model "Altius-M". Photo: Marat Khusainov / prav.tatarstan.ru

However, the practice of purchasing foreign equipment, which Serdyukov widely used, was soon discontinued. The Israeli side, after the delivery of small and medium-sized Bird-Eye-400, I-View and Sercher Mk.2 UAVs to Russia, refused to sell heavy unmanned systems that are more in demand.

In 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced that the Russian army would have its own strike UAV, which would not be inferior to the American counterpart. The mass flow of drones into the armed forces of the Russian Federation began in 2013. So far, the Russian Aerospace Forces are armed with short and medium-range drones (mainly Orlan, Reis, Swift).

Only the United States and Israel have full-fledged strike unmanned aircraft. Russia, along with China, is on the list of catching up countries. In the USSR, drones began to be created in the 1950s. UAVs were mainly used in the interests of the GRU. These were small-sized supersonic high-altitude vehicles, which were distinguished by high manufacturability for their time. In addition, in the USSR, UAVs were actively used as "target aircraft" for training fighter aircraft and firing practice from anti-aircraft installations.

Attack UAVs to help Syria

In a conversation with Russian Planet, Dmitry Kornev, the founder of the Military Russia portal, noted that the West had realized the possibility of a wider use of UAVs a little earlier. In the Soviet Union, the "boom" for drones occurred later - in the mid-1980s. During this period, the Yakovlev Design Bureau created the Shmel-1 apparatus, which was advanced at that time.

“With the collapse of the USSR, development and production work was, of course, stopped. Enterprises oriented towards the Ministry of Defense did not create drones, since there was no order, and private manufacturers in the Russian Federation appeared only in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ”Kornev stated.

The liquidation of the USSR led to the degradation of the military-industrial complex and, as a result, unmanned aircraft. Russia has missed a key UAV trend - moving away from miniaturization towards heavy drones. During the period of hard times in our country, such important sectors for the development of promising UAVs as microelectronics and robotics have slumped. Also, the Russian defense industry has problems with the development of software and operating systems necessary for the operation of drones.

Dmitry Kornev believes that the Ministry of Defense has learned lessons, and the necessary work is already underway. One of the options for additional stimulation of the UAV industry, according to the expert, could be government investment in commercial production, since the universality of the functions of reconnaissance drones does not imply a special secrecy regime.

An excellent "testing ground" for testing strike drones in combat could be an air operation in Syria. Currently, only reconnaissance drones perform tasks in the Syrian sky. Taking into account the plans announced by the Ministry of Defense, it can be expected that in 2016 heavy drones will be used in the Syrian operation. The tragic incident with the Su-24M once again testifies to the need for the speedy entry of strike UAVs into service with the Aerospace Forces.

Sukhoi and Simonov Design Bureau create long-range attack drones / Photo: tvzvezda.ru

The Simonov Joint Design Bureau (former Sokol Design Bureau) and the Sukhoi holding are conducting experimental design work (R&D) to create Zenitsa and Okhotnik-U medium and long-range strike unmanned aerial vehicles, the declared speed of which will be 800 kilometers per hour, a source in the military-industrial complex told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

Currently, the Russian Aerospace Forces do not have attack drones. The troops use only light short-range drones as reconnaissance and target designators. In particular, UAVs are used in Syria.

“Currently, the Simonov Design Bureau is conducting research and development work on the creation of a medium-range strike drone Zenitsa with a speed of 800 kilometers per hour. In parallel, Sukhoi is developing a long-range strike UAV with a similar speed Okhotnik-U,” he said.

The interlocutor of the agency explained that the Zenitsa drone, which will be launched from an aircraft, is designed on the basis of the Tu-143 Reis reconnaissance UAV, developed back in the 1980s by the Tupolev Design Bureau, weighing more than one ton. In turn, the Okhotnik-U project will be made in the form of a flying wing ("flying saucer") launched from the ground.

Earlier, the former head of the United Aircraft Corporation, Mikhail Pogosyan, told reporters that the drone, later called Okhotnik-U, should be created before 2020 and have a take-off weight of 20 tons.

"Hunter-U" produced by the Sukhoi Design Bureau / Photo: img-fotki.yandex.ru

reference Information

The project of a heavy strike unmanned aerial vehicle. The development of the research project "Hunter" to study the possibility of creating a strike UAV weighing up to 20 tons in the interests of the Russian Air Force was or is being carried out by the Sukhoi company (JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau). For the first time, the plans of the Ministry of Defense to adopt an attack UAV were announced at the MAKS-2009 air show in August 2009. According to Mikhail Pogosyan, in August 2009, the design of a new attack unmanned complex was to be the first joint work of the relevant units of the Sukhoi Design Bureau and MiG (project " Skat"). The media reported on the conclusion of a contract for the implementation of research "Hunter" with the company "Sukhoi" on July 12, 2011. In August 2011, the unification of the relevant divisions of the RAC MiG and Sukhoi to develop a promising attack UAV was confirmed in the media, but the official agreement between MiG " and "Dry" was signed only on October 25, 2012.

"Hunter-U" / Photo: img-fotki.yandex.ru

The terms of reference for the strike UAV was approved by the Russian Ministry of Defense in the first days of April 2012. On July 6, 2012, information appeared in the media that the Sukhoi company had been selected by the Russian Air Force as the lead developer. Also, an unnamed source in the industry reports that the attack UAV developed by the Sukhoi company will simultaneously be a sixth-generation fighter. As of mid-2012, it is assumed that the first sample of the strike UAV will begin testing no earlier than 2016. It is expected to enter service by 2020. In the future, it was planned to create navigation systems for the landing approach and taxiing of heavy UAVs on the instructions of JSC Sukhoi Company.

October 3, 2013 Media reports that the first sample of the heavy strike UAV of the Sukhoi Design Bureau will be ready in 2018

State testing of a new Russian heavy attack drone could begin as early as next year. This was stated by Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov during a visit to the Kazan Design Bureau named after Simonov. Apparently, we are talking about the first Russian heavy strike drone "Zenica".

This drone was developed in Kazan and made its first flight in 2014. Now the output is a prototype, which takes into account all the experimental data obtained during preliminary tests. It is he who, as Borisov expects, will enter the state tests next year. The Deputy Minister is confident that the tests will be carried out in a short time and will fully confirm the fulfillment of the terms of reference by the designers. That is, purchases by the Zenica army are expected already in 2018. It is assumed that at first the serial production of the drone can reach 250 units.

We have been talking about strike drones for a long time. Not having them in service, we long and energetically "exposed" the American "Predator". It is supposedly an extremely indiscriminate weapon, raining down missiles on foot soldiers, on horseback, on personnel, on military equipment of the enemy, and on civilians.

However, already at that time, energetic work was underway in our own state-owned design bureaus and private firms to create the first Russian analogues of the Predator. From time to time, there were reports that some developer was already a stone's throw away from transferring unmanned fighters of manpower and armored vehicles for state testing.

Most of all, it was said about the Dozor-600, created by the Kronstadt company since the middle of the last decade. The prototype made its first flight in 2009. Since then, information has periodically appeared that a little more and ... In 2013, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu demanded to speed up the progress of work. But that doesn't make much sense right now. Because "Dozor-600" is yesterday's day of unmanned aircraft. Its payload is only 120 kg. The American veteran of the Predator, which has been in operation since the last century, has 204 kg. And the modern "Reaper" - 1700 kg. True, the developers insist that the Dozor-600 is not only a strike drone, but also a reconnaissance one. However, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft for every taste in our army is already quite enough.

Kronstadt also has one more development. And it was carried out jointly with the aforementioned Kazan Design Bureau. Simonov. This is Pacer, which is more impressive than Dozor-600 and has a higher readiness. A year ago, information appeared that the Gromov Flight Research Institute began testing the Pacer. Nothing is known about the prospects for adopting it. And this is not surprising, since he was also very late with the birth. Which is perfectly illustrated by a comparison of the main performance characteristics of the Pacer and the American Predator adopted in 1995.

LTH UAV "Predator" and "Pacer

Maximum takeoff weight, kg: 1020 - 1200

Payload weight, kg: 204 - 300 Engine type: piston - piston

Maximum flight altitude, m: 7900 - 8000

Maximum speed, km / h: 215 - presumably 210 Cruising speed, km / h: 130 - presumably 120-150 Flight duration, h: 40 - 24 Although, of course, light shock drones, which include "Pacer", have their own niche in the army. They do an excellent job of solving anti-terrorist tasks to eliminate "particularly outstanding" militants. It is on this path that they are going in Israel, creating compact drones armed with one or two short-range missiles with accurate targeting.

OKB im. Simonova approaches the problem of creating a domestic strike drone on a wide front, not limited to the development of two topics. At the same time, all developments are brought to the stage of at least the production of prototypes. The Simonovites pinned great hopes on the medium-class drone "Altair" - weighing up to 5 tons.

"Altair" at the end of last year made its first flight. However, it turned out that the creation of a fully functional sample is still far away. OKB continuously and quite radically refines its offspring. So, instead of the declared 5 tons, the drone began to weigh 7 tons. And according to the terms of reference, it was assumed that it would have a payload mass of about two tons, a ceiling of 12 km. The maximum flight time is 48 hours. At the same time, the drone must have a stable connection with the control complex at a distance of up to 450 km without the use of satellite channels.

The rest of the features are classified. But from what is known, it can be assumed that the Altair should be at least as good as the American Reper. Its ceiling is slightly lower, but the flight duration is significantly higher - 48 hours versus 28 hours.

When the amount of development exceeded 2 billion rubles, the Ministry of Defense decided to cut funding. At the same time, Altair was given a chance - by offering to create a civilian modification for monitoring the Arctic regions, so that civilian structures would co-finance the project.

In case of receiving additional sources of funding, Kazan intends to complete the development of the Altair in 2019 and introduce the drone into mass production in 2020. The decision to cut funding was made two weeks ago.

With a careful study of the question of how many heavy attack drones the OKB im. Simonov, there is a suspicion (based on facts) that they are trying to present one product under the guise of another.

Firstly, Yuri Borisov, while in Kazan, said that the Simonov Design Bureau several years ago, in a tough competition, won the competition for the development of a heavy drone. However, we know for certain that in the tender the Simonovites won the right to create Altair, and not Zenitsa. The cost of the tender is also known - 1.6 billion rubles.

Secondly, Zenica is not a heavy drone, its takeoff weight is 1080 kg. And, therefore, the payload cannot exceed a quarter of a ton. It is known that it was developed on the basis of the Soviet Tu-143 Reis drone, which was put into service back in 1982. Characteristics, of course, today are significantly improved. So, for example, the ceiling has grown from 1000 m to 9000 m, and the flight range - from 180 km to 750 km. But, of course, this became possible due to a significant increase in the mass of fuel, which did not benefit the payload. So, the 250 kg we are supposed to be may turn out to be unbearable for Zenitsa.

LTH UAV "Zenica"

Length - 7.5 m.

Wingspan - 2 m.

However, funding for the project soon ceased due to the policy of the then Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov to purchase high-tech weapons for the army from abroad.

TK for the "Hunter" was approved by the Ministry of Defense in 2012. Its details were not disclosed. The drone will be built on a modular basis, which will allow it to be used to solve a wide range of tasks. The developers were determined to start testing the prototype in 2016 and deliver it to the army in 2020. However, as usual, the deadlines "floated". The year before last, the first flight of the prototype was rescheduled for 2018.

Since nothing is known about the performance characteristics of the Okhotnik, we present the characteristics of the Skat UAV. Logically, the performance of the "Hunter" should be at least as good.

Length - 10.25 m Wingspan - 11.5 m Height - 2.7 m Maximum takeoff weight - 20000 kg Engine thrust TRD - 5040 kgf Maximum speed - 850 km / h Flight range - 4000 km Practical ceiling - 15000 m Combat load - 6000 kg.