MOSCOW, July 4, Andrey Kots. The Russian army tested the promising drone «Pacer» in combat. And in an unusual role. This, according to the military, will negate one of the main advantages of the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. use of this UAV. Back in the summer of last year, the department published footage of a strike on armored vehicles.
And the Pacer made its first flight on October 10, 2016. This is an aircraft-type drone, medium-altitude, long-duration flight (MALE — Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance). The export version (called Orion) has a take-off weight of up to 1,000 kilograms, a combat radius of 250 kilometers, an altitude of 7,500 meters, and a speed of up to 200 kilometers per hour. The performance of the «home» variant is likely to be much better.
But even the Orion is superior to the Turkish reconnaissance and strike Bayraktar TB2. Although both are from the same niche of tactical drones. crop-width=»600″ data-crop-height=»400″ data-source-sid=»not_rian_photo» class=»lazyload» width=»1920″ height=»1280″ decoding=»async» />
Against HIMARS
He is good in a percussion role. In addition to guided anti-tank missiles, it takes small air bombs: corrected KAB-20 and KAB-50, gliding UPAB-50 and free-falling FAB-50. They are, of course, inferior to the heavy FAB-500 or FAB-1000 designed for bombers. But the task of the UAV is to hit the target pointwise, and not to cover the entire area.
The effectiveness of small-sized ammunition was first demonstrated to the world by the Karabakh conflict in 2020. Azerbaijani «Bayraktars», armed with small guided bombs MAM-C and MAM-L, have become a real scourge of the Armenian troops. UAVs hit air defense targets, artillery positions, headquarters, and in some cases even infantry units.
These weapons are now widely used by both the Russian and Ukrainian armies. In addition, attack drones are used in conjunction with artillery crews — for counter-battery combat.
As the military say, such «birds» make everything much easier. Firstly, light gliding bombs allow drones to «nightmare» the close rear areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine without entering their air defense coverage area. Secondly, thanks to their missile armament, they greatly help army and tactical aviation destroy armored vehicles.
There is also a third, very important aspect.
A heavy argument
Artillery duels on the Donetsk front do not subside. The crews of the 152-millimeter Hyacinth howitzers are responsible for counter-battery combat here. Target designation is obtained from reconnaissance, field observers, spotters and commercial quadcopters. =»0.666666666666667″ data-crop-width=»600″ data-crop-height=»400″ data-source-sid=»rian_photo» class=»lazyload» width=»1920″ height=»1280″ decoding=»async » />With «Pacer» battery efficiency increases significantly. The guns can fire laser-guided Krasnopol projectiles. And the drone «highlights» the target. Moreover, from a much greater distance than Orlans, this is formally the main means of guidance.
«We would have one such» bird «for 50 kilometers of the front — and we could forget about Ukrainian artillery,» explains commander of one of the artillery battalions of the 1st Army Corps. «Hyacinths hit 30 kilometers. We cover them with barreled artillery, but we don't get the Haimars. And such a drone can easily track down the MLRS.»
< br />In December 2021, the Kronstadt company completed the construction of the first plant in Russia for the serial production of aircraft and helicopter UAVs. Therefore, in the near future, there will certainly be more «Pacers» in the combat zone.