What if the answer to a swarm of drones will be just a big gun?
If judged formally, the Russian complex “Derivation-defense” is a self-propelled artillery, able to hit air targets. In fact, this installation is similar on the tank, and its tower has a 57-mm automatic cannon capable of shooting down out of the sky drones.
Complex “Derivation”, work over which was conducted for several years, is a platform on the chassis of infantry fighting vehicle BMP-3. This week the Russian news Agency TASS reported that “Derivation” will be the basis for the creation of fully automated and robotic complex, the purpose of which is to fight other robots.
“The Ministry of defense [of Russia] discussed the possibility of robotics in almost all major fighting vehicles — tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled cannon artillery system, and this is due to their increasing digitization, says Samuel Bendett (Samuel Bendett), Advisor to the program for the study of the Russian Center of naval analysis (CNA) and a specialist in the field of Russian unmanned military systems. — This means that all of them has the most modern automated and computerized system control, command, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR), which allows you to turn them both in inhabited, and that is completely uninhabited systems. Being a relatively new system, “Derivation” falls into that category”.
Building robots to fight a small flying robots is a wider strategy based on the use of the benefits that are, in theory, the priority for process automation. We are talking about the attacks with too much speed, and a man can’t respond to them. In addition, you need to keep in mind the threats that originate from devices that do not have person on Board.
If this kind of complexes can still be controlled by the crew, then automation will be used in the moment when it is needed, but the control by a person will be saved for other tasks.
“Derivation” is to use unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned ground vehicles (UAV/UGV) to improve the functions of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, in the same way in Russia is developing other uninhabited systems, and this means that larger ground-based system working in conjunction with the small unmanned aerial and ground systems — emphasizes Bendett. For example, tank T-14 “Armata” will have its own unmanned aircraft to improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Recent tests of uninhabited land platform “Marker” conducted by Foundation for advanced studies (Russian equivalent of the American Management of perspective research projects — DARPA), included the interaction of the main unit with unmanned aerial systems and unmanned ground systems”.
Most likely, it will be many years before such systems will be supplied to the troops in test mode, not to mention their participation in actual combat operations. Observers and military planners will pay particular attention to the actual automation of specific complexes, but also on what rules they are managed as in the course of combat operations and locations.
