UAV "Joker-10" to enhance air defense
UAV of the Joker series with one of the combat load options
To combat enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, a variety of fire and radio equipment are used. The idea of intercepting a UAV using another aircraft also has good prospects in this context. drone with appropriate flight characteristics and combat load. It was recently implemented in the Joker-10 FPV drone project, and now this product can hit both ground and air targets.
Unmanned interception
Let us remind you that the kamikaze drones of the “Joker” series are developed and produced by LLC “Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions” (CDBR) from Zhukovsky (Moscow region). The first product of this line was presented less than a year ago, at the end of May 2023. Later they created and Several new UAVs of this kind have been brought into production. Thus, at the end of March they reported the appearance of the Joker-10 drone with advanced capabilities.
“Jokers” of all modifications are quadcopters with radio control and a heading camera. They have high flight characteristics for their class and can carry combat units. The first models of the family were intended to work against ground targets, and the latest project included new combat missions.
Reportedly, during the development of Joker-10, they thought through and implemented the possibility of attacking air targets - now the UAV can be used as an air defense weapon. For this purpose, a new special kind of combat load has been developed. The destruction of an air target is carried out by a stream of fragments from an unusual ammunition of its own design.
The interceptor drone has already been tested at the State Government Scientific Testing Site aviation systems and confirmed its characteristics. As part of the tests, aircraft-type UAVs were used as a training target. "Joker-10", under the control of a trained operator, successfully aimed at such a target and used a warhead. Using the combat load, the drone itself remained intact and remained stable.
The Central Design Bureau believes that the Joker-10 with an anti-aircraft load has great prospects and should interest customers, as well as find application at the front. Reportedly, some organizations have already paid attention to this development, and during recent tests their representatives mastered the technique.
Material part
Like other FPV drones, Joker-10 is distinguished by a certain simplicity of design. It is built according to the quadcopter scheme and is assembled from components available on the market and parts of our own production. The resulting aerial platform is capable of carrying up to 5 kg of payload. With a full load, the drone reaches speeds of up to 100 km/h, without a load - twice as much.
The Central Design Bureau has developed an updated UAV control system and included the so-called. hibernator If necessary, a drone in a combat position can go into standby mode and remain in place until the command to take off is received. The waiting time in summer reaches 1 month, in the cold season - up to 1 week. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to detect a “sleeping” UAV.
The Joker-10 kamikaze drone can carry different payload options. An original ammunition was created to combat air targets. It was made on the basis of a casing from an aviation decoy thermal target. Instead of a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive charge and ready-made destructive elements were placed in it. At the operator's command, ignition is produced and a shot is fired. The exact parameters of the ammunition have not yet been reported.
During recent tests, the Joker-10 UAV carried six such munitions. An experienced drone showed the possibility of using such a load without risking its own design. In addition, the shot did not disrupt stability and allowed the flight and missions to continue. After expending its ammunition, the UAV can perform a ramming attack.
As part of the air defense
Currently, anti-aircraft systems of various types, as well as electronic warfare systems, are used to combat enemy reconnaissance and attack UAVs. During the current Special Operation, air defense systems/air defense missile systems and electronic warfare are most clearly demonstrating their capabilities - Ukrainian formations are massively launching various UAVs, and only a few make it through our air defense.
According to the developers, the interceptor version of the Joker-10 product should complement traditional air defense systems. A drone in this configuration has several important features and advantages that will allow it to effectively hit unmanned aerial targets and contribute to military and facility air defense in general.
First of all, the Central CBD mentions the economic component. Enemy strike drones are often not sophisticated or expensive. Intercepting them requires spending more expensive anti-aircraft missiles, and the security of facilities is more expensive than it could be. The use of an anti-aircraft drone makes it possible to reduce the cost of interception to a minimum. Moreover, the price of one anti-aircraft missile is equivalent to the price of a sufficiently large number of UAVs.
FPV drones, which are based on racing designs, have high speed and maneuverability characteristics. Due to this, they are able to successfully target attack UAVs flying at a limited speed and unable to maneuver. However, the effectiveness of such guidance depends, first of all, on the operator’s skills. With all this, in terms of speed and maneuverability, the interceptor drone is inferior to anti-aircraft missiles - but their advantages in flight data are excessive when fighting most UAVs.
Both missiles and unmanned interceptors have a clear advantage over electronic warfare systems. Using interference, satellite navigation radio signals and UAV communication with the operator are suppressed. However, an air target can have inertial navigation and move along a predetermined route. In this case, she becomes immune to interference and can only be shot down.
Obviously, intercepting air targets using UAVs also has disadvantages. First of all, this is the limited flight range of an FPV drone. If he fails to meet or catch up with the target, the flight will fail. In addition, organizational issues arise. It is necessary to ensure monitoring of the airspace and issuing target designations to crews of unmanned interceptors. Perhaps these tasks will be solved using existing military air defense control systems.
Promising direction
In general, the idea of using UAVs as an additional air defense system is logical and has certain prospects. At the same time, “Joker-10” from the Central Committee of the Russian Federation is not the only domestic development of this kind. Similar ideas are proposed by other organizations. In addition, the front carries out its own experiments and field tests.
In recent months, video recordings have repeatedly been received from the Special Operation zone showing the interception of enemy UAVs using drones. In these episodes, the target was usually large multicopters with limited flight capabilities, and they were defeated by lightweight, maneuverable FPV devices. The current project from the Central CBD develops similar ideas. At the same time, the necessary solutions are laid down already at the UAV development stage, which should provide certain advantages.
In the recent past, the Zala Aero company, which produces Lancet loitering ammunition, proposed the concept of the so-called. aerial mining. This idea involves UAV combat duty in a given area, monitoring the situation and searching for targets. When an air target is detected, the loitering munition must intercept. It was assumed that aerial mining would be effective against both full-fledged aviation and drones.
Thus, industry and troops already have developments on the topic of interceptor drones and are ready to implement them, as well as bring them to practical use. If production and supply problems are successfully solved, troops will be able to receive massive and fairly simple air defense systems of a fundamentally new type.
It is obvious that interceptor drones cannot solve all air defense tasks, and systems of other classes should remain in the army. However, the simultaneous use of existing and future radars, air defense systems, air defense systems and electronic warfare systems together with UAVs should provide an increase in the effectiveness of air defense in a number of typical situations.
Whether our army will take advantage of the opportunity that has arisen, and how exactly new means can be introduced, time will tell. Also in the future it will become clear how effective Joker-10 with special anti-aircraft ammunition is in a real situation.
Information