Ukrainian ingenuity: Drones evolve into armed aerial support
Ukrainians are persistently exploring cost-effective and reusable methods to counter Russian soldiers using drones. One of the most intriguing, albeit still under development, involves mounting firearms on drones. Let's explore how this concept might be implemented.
Ukrainians are widely employing drones not only to target Russian vehicles but also individual soldiers. However, it's important to note that in recent months, China has reduced the supply of essential components for their production, leading to noticeable issues in maintaining an adequate supply of drones.
These drones cost around £830 each or less, and an effective means of attack is needed. Ukrainians primarily repurpose outdated weapons for this purpose, such as bomblets from obsolete cluster munitions that are several decades old, hand grenades, or rifle grenades like Polish PGN-y. Nevertheless, this is insufficient, and Western cluster warheads are sometimes dismantled.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to adapt drones to carry rifles, as they could provide cost-effective engagement with the enemy and serve as reusable weapons. For instance, the price of a single 5.56x45 mm NATO round on the civilian market is currently about £0.40. Below, you can view one of the many recent videos showing a drone equipped with an AK-74 rifle performing a low-altitude flight over Russian trenches along a tree line.
Drones with rifles — when a science fiction vision becomes reality
Theoretically, this concept is feasible because FPV drones capable of carrying a lightened PG-7VL grenade weighing approximately 2.3 kilograms can also support an AK rifle, particularly if stripped of unnecessary elements such as the stock, handguard, or pistol grip, reducing the rifle's weight from nearly 3.2 kilograms to about 1.8 kilograms.
Such a rifle attached to a drone, even using cable ties, could serve effectively as a suppressive fire weapon for an assault group, functioning as a drone version of direct air support. In simple terms, in this scenario, Russian forces are less likely to emerge from cover, facilitating the assault team's operations.
In this operational mode, precision isn't a primary concern, as the rifle must be mounted on a two-axis stabilised platform with a system to absorb recoil energy. Furthermore, the drone would require an advanced system utilising artificial intelligence algorithms for target tracking, alongside the capability to measure the distance to the target and calculate the necessary gun angle using a ballistic computer.
Only with this setup could relatively accurate shooting at detected targets be possible. In field conditions, this might not be feasible, but it is achievable with a design purpose-built from scratch.
