In Alabino near Moscow, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense was shown several dozen unmanned systems of various classes and types. The most representative class in Russia, as well as in the whole world, remains the mini-UAV class. They constituted the overwhelming majority of the systems presented.
MINI BLA
One of the first in the series of mini-UAVs was the Bird Eye 400 apparatus of the Israeli company Israel Aerospace Industries. A limited number of these systems were purchased by the Russian Ministry of Defense several years ago. Next to it was the same apparatus assembled at the Russian enterprise UZGA, which is part of Oboronprom, under a license agreement with IAI.
Also in this category it is worth noting the developments of the Kazan company "Enix" and the St. Petersburg STC. UAVs "Eleron" and "Orlan", developed and produced by these companies, have already passed state tests by the Russian Ministry of Defense and, as expected, may be delivered to the troops in the near future. By the way, it was these drones that carried out missions with the aim of conducting aerial reconnaissance during the imitation of hostilities conducted in Alabino.
The Izhevsk company ZALA, which traditionally specialized in the creation of mini-UAV systems, brought almost the entire line of drones ever created by it, occupying an impressive piece of the exhibition.
In addition to the aforementioned drones, the exhibition also featured the Grusha and Tachyon systems, created by another Izhevsk company, Izhmash-Unmanned Systems. Relatively simple and inexpensive drones "Grusha", intended for reconnaissance and surveillance in the near zone, "over the hill" were already supplied to the Russian military department in small quantities.
Chief Designer Alexander Zakharov tells Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the advantages of UAVs created at their company.
TACTICAL CLASS
The tactical-class UAVs at the event personified the Tipchak and Stroy-PD complexes of the Vega concern. Obviously, the complexes were taken from among those in the units, mainly to show the starting level that our Armed Forces had a few years ago. Apparently, "Vega" is currently working on a new tactical class complex for the Russian military, but there is no public information about this project yet.
Another tactical unmanned system was presented by the Izhevsk company ZALA, which previously, by the way, actively collaborated with Vega. The model of this UAV was already shown to the public several years ago at one of the previous MAKS airshows. However, later the development disappeared from the website and from the company's brochures. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about it as a finished product, most likely this is how ZALA emphasizes its ambitions to enter a new segment of the drone market.
But the St. Petersburg company "Transas" brought to the exhibition a ready-made system of tactical class "Dozor-100". The system was created on an initiative basis and did not quite fit into the dimension made by the Russian military, however, it can find application in paramilitary structures - the border service and the coast guard, drug control, the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The largest drone available at the event was represented by the already mentioned UZGA plant from Yekaterinburg. This is the Forpost complex, which is a licensed version of the Israeli Searcher MkII UAV, a small batch of which was purchased by the Russian military department several years ago.
Senior Lieutenant Alexander Zabashta deployed the UAV flight control center in an ordinary tent.
SECRET SHOW
As for the larger medium-altitude drones of long flight duration, their projects developed by Transas and Sokol companies with a take-off weight of about 1 ton and about 5 tons, respectively, were also presented at the Alabino show. However, one could get acquainted with them only in the closed part of the exposition.
These topics were posed by the Russian Ministry of Defense just two years ago. Nevertheless, the Russian military would like to get at its disposal analogs of the American Predator and Reaper UAVs as soon as possible. The developers are tasked with creating high-tech drones almost faster than the American company General Atomics did for the Pentagon.
Also, some interim results of the Okhotnik R&D project were presented behind closed doors, within the framework of which the Sukhoi company is creating an attack UAV. It is obvious that the Sukhovites, like the Transassovtsy, will also have to force the "five-year plan in three years" - the interest in a heavy attack unmanned vehicle from the Russian military is very high, given the significant successes recently demonstrated by the United States in the development of this class of UAVs.
MULTICOPTERS
Helicopter-type drones also represent a very interesting and important segment of unmanned systems. The topic of unmanned multicopters, which is popular these days, was reflected in the Alaba event as well. There were at least five multi-rotor UAVs, created by various companies, from those close to "toys" to some kind of heavyweights, lifting up to 10 kg. The latter were demonstrated by the NELK company, which specializes in multi-rotor devices. Already today they are used by the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the Ministry of Defense, they can be used in special operations forces.
The light unmanned helicopters of the ZALA company presented at the event have already been supplied to some power structures. However, created on the basis of aircraft models, they can hardly be taken seriously.
A much more advanced model of a helicopter-type UAV was presented by the Gorizont company from Rostov-on-Don. It is a highly successful system in its class and is actively marketed around the world. Unfortunately, this system is not of Russian design. In our country, within the framework of an agreement with the Austrian company Schiebel, the Camcopter S-100 unmanned systems are being assembled, as well as their adaptation for the Russian operator. Traditionally, one of the main customers for Gorizont is the Border Guard Service of the FSB of Russia. The aforementioned unmanned helicopter is used by the Coast Guard of the Border Guard Service. However, it is obvious that the company has an interest in expanding the number of customers from other law enforcement agencies, including the Ministry of Defense.
One could only guess about the state of development work in the field of helicopter-type UAVs "Roller" and "Albatross" - Sergey Mikheev, general designer of the "Kamov" company, reported some intermediate results to the military leadership. However, in view of the fact that the "Eaglet" helicopter was demonstrated in the open area, which was previously supposed to be the basis of one of the drones of "Russian Helicopters", it can be concluded that at least with the implementation of "Roller", not everything is all right, and "Eaglet" is kept here as a fallback.
Major Alexei Astafyev checks the operation of the UAV before launching it.
STATE INTEREST
Despite statements by some media that such an event is being held in Russia for the first time, this is far from the case. Screenings similar to the one that took place have already taken place both here, in Alabino, and in other places, for example, in Kubinka, in Yegoryevsk and at other venues. Most of the unmanned systems presented in the open area are already well known from exhibitions and exercises.
At the same time, one cannot fail to note some positive shifts. If we consider the attitude of the Russian military to the topic of UAV systems over the past 10 years, then in the last two or three years there has been a clear turning point. The first step was to increase funding for the relevant research and development work through the Ministry of Defense. Over the past few years, the Russian military department has given the industry a number of research and development work in the field of UAV systems.
The second step, which is a clear indicator of the real attention of the military to the topic of UAV systems, was the formation in the structure of the General Staff of a new department, which will deal exclusively with drones. As the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Alexander Postnikov, emphasized at the closing of the event, the point here is that the formation of requirements and scientific and technical support for each of the projects are carried out centrally.
Of course, it is impossible to solve all the problems in a short time, as the military would like. However, on the whole, the situation does not look as hopeless as it did several years ago.
