Several years ago, the use of UAVs by militants was primarily of a reconnaissance nature, since the HD-format cameras made it possible to conduct observation from safe heights. Now this technique has moved to a new level of combat use - the performance of shock functions. The mechanics of such "bombing" is quite simple - a glass is attached to the copter, usually made from a beer can, in which the ammunition is fixed.
Phantom quadcopters converted by militants for aerial attacks.
The initiator of the reset is either the rotation of the video camera, or the start of a penny servo. The most popular "bombs" are ammunition from a 40-mm grenade launcher, warheads from a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher or self-propelled explosive devices. Even with only one round of ammunition, such mini-bombers are capable of causing serious damage. In Iraq, a DJI Phantom drone, converted by terrorists to drop grenades with a tail-stabilizer, destroyed an entire Humvee in one hit.
Dropping a homemade bomb and destroying a Humvee.
Of course, such successful attacks are rare, but the massive proliferation of such techniques endangers the life of anyone with no roof over their heads. Judging by the available video evidence, copters are bombed from a height of about 200 meters - this allows you to hide the noise of the propellers. There is an episode on January 7, 2017, when ISIS fighters, banned in Russia, dropped more than 10 fragmentation grenades on the heads of the advancing Iraqis in one hour. In addition to their deadly cargo, such drones are distinguished by another harmful property - they are very difficult to detect due to their extremely low radar, thermal and acoustic signature. On January 26, 2015, a quadrocopter "crashed" into a tree on the south lawn of the White House. Until its very end, it remained unnoticed by the radar systems of the heart of the United States. At best, the air shield will confuse the drone with a large bird.
Examples of "successful" UAV bombing.
Pantsir-S, one of the world's most modern tactical air defense systems, is also not always capable of identifying a threat in a miniature drone using a locator or an optical-electronic channel. However, it is this system that provides at least some protection against such terrorist innovations. Deprived of the "Carapace" territories of Syria and Iraq are virtually defenseless against modified attack "Phantoms". In the best case, when detected, the military fires chaotic small arms at the drones with a result close to zero. According to Russian experts, the height of 300 meters guarantees the terrorist drone complete immunity from small arms and even cannon weapons.
The next device in the aviation hierarchy of terrorists from the Middle East was the drone of an airplane scheme. It is these homemade products made from plywood, foam and duct tape that are attacking Russian bases in Syria. So, on January 6, 2018, 13 such aircraft raided the location of the Russian troops on the territory of the SAR. As a result, a part was planted on the ground with the help of an electronic warfare system, and the rest were destroyed by the mentioned "Carapaces", since the visibility for locators of such handicraft aircraft is noticeably higher than that of copters. The payload of a winged UAV can reach 4 kg, and the flight range is 50 km.
Handicraft bombs dropped by terrorists from aircraft UAVs.
Of interest are the bombs used in such attacks. Their body usually consists of two plastic cups, glued with tape and equipped with a tail unit. The head part is equipped with a contact fuse, and the insides are stuffed with steel balls and the most powerful explosive TEN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate). The nuance is that it is very problematic to obtain heating elements in field chemical laboratories (rather, it is impossible at all), and this raises questions about the supply channels for terrorists. The heating element, significantly superior in power to RDX, provides a 400-gram ammunition with a radius of dispersion of damaging elements of 50 meters. And each drone carried 10 of these bombs to Russian bases, fixed under the wings and dropped simultaneously.
Intercepted UAVs that carried out an attack on Russian bases in Syria.
The drone of the terrorists of the aircraft scheme, which managed to land. The electronics are wrapped in green tape. The fuselage is assembled from the planks of the fruit box (1). Wings and tail - plywood and foam (2)
There is no exact data on how the Pantsiri shot down such UAVs, but it can be assumed that these were missiles, since the complex's high-explosive fragmentation projectiles are far from always capable of hitting small-sized air targets. So, during the tests, three installations of the Pantsir-S air defense missile system at once could not shoot down a radio-controlled E95 target with dimensions of 2, 9 x 2, 35 x 0, 25 m and equipped with a pulsating air-jet engine at a distance of 2 km in bursts of 40 shots. The E95 target is quite close in size to a terrorist UAV and the domestic air defense system was able to hit it only with a missile.
The E95 reactive target, which Pantsir-S has problems with.
Separately, it should be said that the E95 actively radiates with its engine in the thermal range, in contrast to the light piston engines of terrorist equipment, and this significantly complicates the direction finding of the target. In general, one can only guess how costly it can be to destroy such a "squadron" of attack UAVs using surface-to-air missiles. And this is not a problem for Russia alone. US Army General David Perkins, speaking at the 2017 AUSA forum, said that one of the US allies had to shoot down a small quadcopter worth $ 200 with a Patriot missile for 3 million. The copter, of course, was shot down, but such a consumption of resources, according to Perkins, is completely unacceptable. "If I were the enemy, I would have thought, 'I'll just go to Ebay and buy more of these drones for 200-300 bucks, so that they generally run out of Patriot missiles in the end."
Morally and technically obsolete mortars are becoming an effective weapon in the hands of terrorists, for the guidance of which the achievements of the IT industry are actively used. For example, the $ 25 Ballistic Calculator app installed on a tablet allows you to aim a mortar or even a homemade rocket launcher at a target, even without sighting devices. To do this, simply hold the tablet equipped with an accelerometer and appropriate software to the launch tube.
Fighters aiming a mortar using a tablet and software for ballistic calculations.
Asymmetric threats can be implemented not only on land, but in the sea. The action of 2000 in the Yemeni port of Aden became well-known, when a boat with a suicide bomber and 250 kilograms of explosives made a hole in the American destroyer Cole, 9x12 m in size. Then 17 sailors died, 37 were injured of varying severity. The repair of the destroyer cost the American taxpayer 250 million dollars.
A hole in the side of the destroyer Cole.
All of this raises questions about the disproportionate damage that terrorist organizations inflict, while wasting penny resources. Similar tricks on the part of government agencies are not excluded. So, according to Iranian Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, the use of groups of speed boats for a massive attack on large military vessels of a potential enemy (read: the United States and Israel) is at the heart of the operational strategy of the Navy of this country. And given the fanaticism of some of the Iranian military personnel (especially the personnel of the "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps"), the use of such "swarms" as kamikaze cannot be ruled out. In Iran, there are about 1000 small high-speed boats with two outboard motors and large-caliber machine guns, as well as installations of 107-mm unguided missiles. But some of these small ships are not armed, and carry only mines or 500 kilograms of explosives. What prevents them from blowing themselves up at the side of the next "Cole"?
Iranian boats armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun and an 11-barreled launcher with 107 mm NURs.
In 2015, Iran built a full-size model of the aircraft carrier of the Nimitz series with a length of 330 meters to practice massive attacks and conducted the Great Prophet 9 exercise, during which they fired missiles at the target from the shore, from helicopters, and then finished off 50 small boats. Such exercises showed that "mosquito tactics" allows several boats with missiles and tons of explosives to get to the "body" of the protagonist quite successfully to break into the defense of an aircraft carrier order and get to the "body" of the protagonist.
Iranian seaplane "Bavar 2".
Iranian seaplanes "Bavar-2" ("Vera-2"), flying over the surface of the water like ekranoplanes, are becoming no less dangerous asymmetric threat. The flight altitude is only a few meters, and the speed is 185-190 km / h with a maximum duration of more than 2 hours. They are difficult to track with radar, which allows the Bavar-2 to approach ships within dagger range. At the Iran Kish Air Show 2014, a new seaplane "Bavar 4" was presented with a flight altitude range of 0.5-50 meters, a range of 350 km and a carrying capacity (in addition to the crew) of 130 kg.
Iranian seaplane "Bavar 4".
This makes it possible to equip such aircraft with Korsar anti-ship missiles weighing 100 kg. In this regard, Iran noted that, "given the introduction of a new generation of flying boats, it is clear that Iranian military strategists have come to the conclusion that a flying boat is a tool suitable for an asymmetric battle strategy, so the promotion and release of new models continues." The natural response to this "outrage" is NATO's ways of countering combat asymmetry.
