In Russia since the time of the USSR have never learned to make combat drones: what are the reasons
According to him, out of 170 products only 4-5 are at the stage of production, the rest, at best, are experienced models. History shows that the Russians have been experimenting with UAVs since the Soviet times, but only a few come from factory conveyors and are actually used. The exhibition did not even have a promising UAV C-70 "Hunter", which has been developed since 2012 and the prototype of which is undergoing factory tests, and in 2023 it was planned to be launched in mass production.
"We do not need 170 projects, but only a dozen. But those that can be launched for several months," the analyst was indignant. The development of drones was conducted during the USSR: BM-1 and TB-3 bombers were initially thought as radio-controlled, and the RD-1 aircraft ("range of range") predicted the fate of Dron-Kamikadze. In 1941, hundreds of torpedo boats were made unmanned, but abandoned this idea because of the imperfection of management systems.
Later, after the Second World War, the Soviet Union was developing on a par with the United States, but summer drones were not widespread. In 1986, two analogues of American UAV RQ-4 Global Hawk were developed in the USSR, which since 2014 play an important role in the war in Ukraine. Soviet engineers from KB Myasishchev designed the M-62 "Orel", and in the KB dry prepared model C-62 "rhombus", but in the 1990s the projects were closed due to lack of funding.
Since 1993, dozens of different UAVs have shown MAKs' exhibitions "Max", but almost all of them have remained models for stands. The only more or less successful Soviet project can be considered a divisional unit called "Bee", which was started in 1982. Until 1991, 50 units were released, and in May 1995, UAVs were used in hostilities in the North Caucasus. The weight of "bees" is 138 kg, cruising speed - 180 km/h.
In 2016, the media appeared in the media of the T-14 T-14 tanks quadcopters "Pterodactyl". It is assumed that it is able to rise to a height of 90 km and transfer information to a fighting machine through a power cable protected from obstacles. "Pterodactyl" promised to pass the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for tests in 2017, but still nothing to hear about it. On May 9, 2018, a parade in Russia presented an unmanned helicopter "Katran".
In view of all, it is an analogue of the Austrian UAV S-100. "Allegedly, Katran was tested on the Russian ship, but he also went somewhere," the analyst said. The situation with drones in Russia is well illustrated by the story with the Dobryn drone from the Diamond Antai concern. The developers recently introduced a quadcopter with a fabulous name, which allegedly not terrible rains and frosts, and promised to produce thousands of such devices a month for the needs of the Russian army.