Russia Plans to Operate 100 Exploding Drone Swarm

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A Russian Air Force academy has recently presented Moscow’s potential attack methods in a future war. The vision for technology that was presented was a 100 drone swarm, each carrying an explosive payload. The swarm strike has been designed to destroy convoys of vehicles.

Although currently the technology isn’t there yet, the concept shows the country’s intent. Russia views explosive drone swarms as the future of military warfare, and while other countries may also be researching such methods of attack, it is certain that moves such as this increases the international demand for counter-UAV technologies.

Also known as Flock-93, the swarm concept is being worked on by the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy along with Autonomous Aerospace Systems- GeoService and Group Kronstadt.

The drones of Flock-93 will be flying wings with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities, according to C4isrnet.com. They will have a range of approximately 95 miles and since they have VTOL capabilities, they can be set up and launched from pretty much anywhere.

The Flock-93 drones will likely carry 5.5 pounds of explosives as their payload. Capable of precision measured in inches, the swarm’s targets will likely be lightly armored vehicles and trucks.

The swarm will likely be designed to be operated via humans from ground stations or aircraft. It is expected that the swarm will fly based on predetermined coordinates.

Although swarms are an effective response towards single-shot anti drone weapons such as lasers, high powered microwave weapons can be effective against multiple drones in the sky.

The drones will have a “leader drone” that if shot down, a different drone will take position as leader. This will continue to happen until there are only two remaining drones left.

If the Russians manage to successfully pull off Flock-93, they will have 550 pounds of flying, semi-autonomous explosives in their hands, thus making counter-drone technologies more critical than ever.