03.02.2009
Source:
Translation:
RusNavy.com
The Vega concern, the main Russian designer of unmanned aerial vehicles for the Defense Ministry, has begun developing a drone meant to be based on shores, ships and boats, as well as on advanced Russian aircraft carriers in the future, the concern told Ria Novosti on Friday.
“The concern started today the development of a concept for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the overall coast-guard system,” an official who requested anonymity told the news agency.
The source said that such unmanned aerial vehicles could be based on the advanced aircraft carriers Russia plans to build in the next millennium.
Alexei Kuznetsov, a representative of the construction bureau
Luch, which is part of
Vega, told the agency that a stationary complex, named
Tipchak, using the eponymous aerial vehicle and the
BPLA-07 is virtually complete, and that a version with two
BPLAs that will be based on two Tiger (Russia) or Hummer (U.S.) trucks is still on the drawing board. The stationary version will be installed on various launching platforms, including ships and boats.
The modernized drone
BPLA-07 of the
Tipchak group stands out by its increased speed of 150 to 190 km/h, its range of 70 to 120 kilometers and its compactness, thanks to its folding wings, said Kuznetsov.
“The maritime version will be even more compact, since the deck of a ship or a light boat has limited space,” he said.
The Russian Navy shows great interest in unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance purposes, said Rear Admiral Arkady Syroezhko, director of unmanned aerial vehicles programs at
Vega. “It is a very promising direction for the Navy, and for industry. The Navy no longer wants to have closed eyes,” Syroezhko said.
“An additional stimulus for the development of unmanned aerial vehicles is the announcement by Russia of its intention to pursue advanced aircraft carriers. There is no doubt that next to the planes and helicopters on the decks of such carriers will be unmanned aerial vehicles, including those being developed by
Vega,” the rear admiral said.
Georgy Antsev, the general director of
Radar MMS, said earlier that the Russian Navy was looking into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles of helicopter type to reduce the workload of traditional reconnaissance missions and increase effectiveness in the use of all types of ship-based weapons. “Russia today faces a serious problem: for precision weapons, including those based on warships, there is a poorly developed target-detection system that could help effectively solve the problems related to deficiency in intelligence-gathering and relay the target-detection information to the weapon complexes,” Antsev said.
The aerial recon system
Tipchak can solve problems related to reconnaissance, detection, identification, determination of the coordinates of a target in real time up to a distance of 40 kilometers. It uses reusable remotely operated aerial vehicles (up to six) with a piston-like engine launched from catapults.
The flying altitude of such vehicles above sea level is between 200 and 3,000 meters, and the speed range is between 90 and 150 km/h. Its initial mass is 50 kilograms.
The kit includes an antenna truck, the operator’s car, the launching platform, the technical support vehicles, and six unmanned aerial vehicles allowing autonomous military action for a considerable amount of time.
