With the arrival of former Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu as Minister of Defense of the country, the military increasingly began to look to the future, in which robotic systems of different classes will play the main role. At the same time, we are not talking only about banal UAVs or underwater robots. The Russian military is considering the use of autonomous landing systems and ground combat vehicles. The Airborne Forces is showing an active interest in inanimate assistants to military personnel and plans to involve the Tula KBP and the Moscow Aviation Institute in ambitious projects and programs.
The fact that robotic technology in the Russian army should be used as often as possible was mentioned by Sergei Shoigu back in December last year. On December 14, 2012, the new head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Vladimir Puchkov, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, visited the 294th Leader Special Risk Operations Center. Here, the ministers examined a number of samples of robotic equipment used by Russian rescuers: the El-10 and El-4 fire-fighting systems, as well as the LUF-60 remote mobile fire extinguishing systems and various sapper robots. During a visit to the center, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, suggested using this kind of system in Chechnya.
One of the famous Russian sapper robots today is the Varan mobile robotic complex (MRK). MRK is designed for search, visual reconnaissance and primary diagnosis of suspicious objects for the presence of explosive devices using specialized attachments and television cameras. "Varan" is able to neutralize explosive devices, as well as load them into specialized containers for evacuation and performing various technological operations aimed at providing access to the explosive device.
Fire-fighting robotic complex El-10
First of all, these robots are aimed at combating terrorism, so they are mainly purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. The sapper robot is produced by the Kovrov Electromechanical Plant. Robots of this type are able to clear mine explosive devices at a distance of 2 kilometers, they can detect it in a car, under a car, and also evacuate a car from a tunnel after an accident. The cost of this kind of equipment is about 50 thousand dollars. At the same time, a sapper robot is not just a tracked or wheeled unit, it is a whole complex of equipment, which includes various replaceable attachments and manipulators, a control panel, a set of consumables and spare parts. The cost of Russian robots in a complete set corresponds to the prices of their Western counterparts, to which additional equipment often has to be purchased.
Soon after the excursion to the Leader Special Risk Operations Center, the Russian military started talking about the need to use robots to solve all sorts of tasks. The representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations agree with them, according to Irek Khasanov, the head of the fire prevention center, the equipment that is already in service with the Ministry of Emergency Situations will be useful in the army as well.
Commanders of various types of troops also spoke about the use of robots. So the Navy is interested in autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles, the Ground Forces are going to begin the widespread use of reconnaissance UAVs. At the same time, the most promising and breakthrough ideas are expressed by the commander of the Airborne Forces Vladimir Shamanov. Shamanov is not going to be limited to the widespread use of drones, he proposes to create robotic landing systems, as well as autonomous ground combat vehicles. Also, the Russian Ministry of Defense has already made an order to create a robot to search for and evacuate the wounded from the battlefield.
Sapper robot Varan
The developments of such a rescue robot are reported in the report of the Public Council under the chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission. This report is dedicated to the projects of the recently established Advanced Research Fund. The robotic complex being created should teach how to independently find, identify and take out wounded soldiers from the battlefield, as well as easily move around various types of terrain and ground, indoors, and also along stairs. At the same time, the manipulators of such a robot are planned to be adapted to work with the wounded, who were seriously injured and are in different positions. The transportation of the wounded must be carried out without the risk of causing them additional damage and harm to health.
The main executor of the project to create a sanitary robot may be the St. Petersburg Central Research Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetics, which is currently developing a control system for combat robots. Also, among the possible developers are called Moscow State Technical University. Bauman. In addition to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the new robot may be useful to the units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Earlier, advanced technologies of mobile resuscitation were presented in the Russian surgical complex, created on the basis of the Il-76MD Scalpel-MT transport aircraft. This aircraft is currently in service with the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
In the United States, the creation of a robot for the evacuation of wounded soldiers from the battlefield is engaged in DARPA - the Office of Advanced Research and Development of the US Department of Defense. Prior to that, the Russian Ministry of Defense had already announced 2 tenders for the development of an ultrasonic cuff to stop bleeding (code "Bee") and an artificial liver (code "Prometheus"), but later canceled these two tenders. The Advanced Research Fund was established in Russia on the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry complex. The fund was established in October last year and is positioned as a domestic analogue of DARPA. Its main task is to promote high-risk scientific research in the interests of national defense.
Dozor-600 reconnaissance and strike UAV
Returning to the Airborne Forces, it can be noted that in August 2012 it was announced that the Airborne Forces, together with the Tula KBP, were going to develop a multifunctional complex with a remotely controlled module based on the vehicle - BMD-4M. It is assumed that this machine will be autonomous, and the operator will be able to control it from a considerable distance. It is relatively easy to bring this idea to life, especially since the Tula KBP is already producing robotic combat modules BMD-4M. It is reported that 5 of these vehicles should enter the troops before the end of this year, and another 5 in the 1st quarter of 2014. In fact, the only thing that remains to be realized is the remote control system, as well as the all-round view.
The Airborne Forces also have their own vision of a promising airborne combat vehicle, which, according to Shamanov, should represent something in between a medium helicopter and a light armored vehicle. Such a machine should independently fly over a distance of 50-100 km, and due to the presence of folding wings, it can easily fit into Russian Il-76 and An-124 transport aircraft. Nothing more is known about the promising flying BMD.
Most likely, this project will simply not be implemented due to the general ill-conceivedness and complexity of the design. In an unmanned version, such a combat vehicle will not make sense, since even created UAVs can perform significantly more different tasks in the air. In a manned version, such a BMD can become an excellent target for ambush attacks: while it transforms into flight mode, it will spread its wings, unscrew the propellers and gain altitude.
BMD-4M
In the air, such a machine can be very vulnerable to the enemy due to its large size and, most likely, mediocre maneuverability. The use of active systems and self-defense complexes will significantly complicate the design of the apparatus and can lead to an overestimation of the BMD mass, which is extremely undesirable for the Airborne Forces. Finally, to control such a flying BMD, it will be necessary to train highly qualified driver mechanics who will be able to drive a car not only on the ground, but also to control it in the air.
In addition to robotic combat vehicles, the airborne forces are in need of airborne robots that can be used to solve a fairly wide range of tasks. In January 2013, Colonel of the Airborne Forces Alexander Kucherenko said that Shamanov decided to arm Russian paratroopers with robotics using the example of the Russian Emergencies Ministry. At the same time, robots for paratroopers should be smaller and lighter. It is still unknown what kind of robots we are talking about, but most likely these are sapper robots, fire extinguishing and surveillance systems.
It is also possible that the Russian paratroopers could use robots that are able to mark the landing sites. In America, it is planned to use UAVs for these needs. In March 2013, the United States has already tested a precision guidance system for transport aircraft. The essence of the systems is that the reconnaissance UAV inspects the terrain, choosing the most suitable places for transporting paratroopers and cargo and marking them with special radio beacons. Such radio beacons transmit the exact coordinates of the landing site to the crews of transport aviation, they can also broadcast information about the weather, primarily the wind. These systems are used for the targeted discharge of cargo, such systems would be very useful for Russian paratroopers when landing military equipment, especially in adverse weather conditions.
Fighting robot MRK-27
A variety of robotic systems with each new day play an increasing role in the armies of the developed countries of the world, they are becoming an integral part of the conduct of hostilities. These machines are capable of performing a range of tasks with much greater precision and also faster than humans. One or another degree of process automation has long been in demand in many operations. For example, in the construction of air defense (the modern Russian air defense system S-400 can function in a fully autonomous mode) or reconnaissance. In recent years, robotics has been most actively used by the US Army: reconnaissance, air strikes using UAVs, surveillance and reconnaissance, inspection and demining. In Russia, these technologies are currently not yet so widespread among the troops.
At the same time, the ability of the Russian economy to translate the ideas of the military into life for a number of experts is questionable. In Russia today, the production of electronic components is very poorly developed, which is a prerequisite for creating reliable, compact and functional electronics. Also in Russia there is no industry that would be engaged in the manufacture of various kinds of robotic systems; currently, a number of enterprises are engaged in these tasks, which are working on an initiative basis with almost no interaction with each other.
