The Piranha Bite: Achievements of the People's Defense Industry in 2024
In 2024, Russian fighters began to actively use the developments of the national defense-industrial complex in the special military operation zone. For example, the FPV drone "Piranha 10" from volunteer engineers destroyed an American Abrams tank. Now the people's defense industry has become a serious industry, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, he noted that the products produced by these enterprises, including drones, are not inferior in quality to the factory. "Izvestia" found out what developments in the past year appeared in the troops and how they show themselves in combat operations.
How the people's defense industry works
The head of state and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2024 has repeatedly noted the contribution of volunteer developers to success in the zone of special military operation. Thus, Vladimir Putin said in December that the people's defense-industrial complex (DIC) has become a serious industry and it is necessary to more actively use its resources and potential.
In September, at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission on the development of special-purpose unmanned aircraft systems in St. Petersburg, the president noted that the products manufactured by the national defense industrial complex enterprises, including drones, are not inferior in quality to the factory-made ones.
This year at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army" for the first time a separate pavilion was made to present the developments of volunteer engineers. More than 250 samples from 100 companies were brought there.
- Within the framework of the People's Defense Industry since April, more than 65 types of products have been delivered to the troops, including 31 types of UAVs, four types of crewless boats," said Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov on December 21 at the final meeting of the technical council of the Russian Defense Ministry and the People's Front.
There are many talented people in Russia who are now gathering in small groups of enthusiasts and creating various projects in the defense-industrial complex, military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.
- Of course, not all of their developments can be tested, but there is rapid selection and evolution," he explained. - It is easier for volunteer developers to get feedback from fighters than for large military-industrial complex structures. They are not constrained by various often outdated rules and regulations. This allows them to react more quickly to changes on the battlefield and create relevant devices for the fighters here and now: drones, REB, RAR systems and others. The people's defense industry is no longer just craftsmen in garages creating their own devices "on their knees", but also the developments of private companies that are produced at their factories.
According to the expert, the people's defense-industrial complex cannot be opposed to the traditional one, they are both necessary.
- Large structures provide the front with especially complex products - tanks, airplanes, and so on. The people's defense industry fills gaps in areas that are developing very rapidly now, such as drones. And accordingly, both are working for our victory, - summarized Yuri Lyamin.
How the Piranha UAV hit the first Abrams tank
Already at the beginning of last year, the developments of skillful people began to show their high efficiency. Thus, Izvestia wrote that the first Abrams tank destroyed during a special military operation fell victim to the Russian FPV drone "Piranha 10" costing less than 50 thousand rubles.
- From the very beginning of the SVO we were engaged in supplying helmets and body armor, but fighters regularly asked us about drones, so we started to bring them from China. Then we realized that there was nothing complicated in their production, and decided to try to make them ourselves. We hired employees - engineers, pilots, developers - and it worked," the head of public relations at SKB Piranha told Izvestia.
The fate of one of the volunteer developments, which in a short time went from an amateur product to official adoption by the army, is illustrative.
Aleksandr Kamin, a developer of electronic warfare systems from Krasnodar, has been personally sending drones to fighters, repairing and flashing them as a volunteer since the very beginning of the NWO.
- That's how I made a lot of military friends. They had anti-drone devices, but they were Chinese, expensive and ineffective. They asked me to make something that could be taken to the exits and would work for a long time. I came up with the first prototype on my knees. At home, there wasn't even a laboratory yet," he recalls.
Trophy M1 Abrams tank at the X International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2024" at the Patriot exhibition and congress center
His first "jammer" got to Maryinka. Russian fighters tested it and gave positive feedback. Then Alexander began to gather a team and built the first small laboratory. The military dubbed the UAV suppression system, which turned out to be very successful, an iron because of its resemblance to a well-known household appliance.
In the fall of this year, his latest development drone-detector PT-01 "Ptitselov" was adopted by the Ministry of Defense and from January 2025 will be centrally supplied to the area of the NWO. The process from the release for testing to signing documents on the adoption into service took no more than half a year.
The Bulat drone-detector followed a similar path .
- At first we made several copies by hand, soldered all the components on a homemade board," said Sergey Shandobylo, development director of the 3mx team. - Then we checked whether the device works or not. The tests took place, and based on their results, the Ministry of Defense recommended Bulat v.4 for purchase. Therefore, we are now launching it into production. And already on the factory machine we are putting components on the board.
From sights to BECs
Representatives of the national defense industry create not only tactical drones and accessories for them, but also more complex in assembly and development of equipment. For example, the crewless boat "Murena-300" was tested in combat conditions on the Dnieper River in the Kherson region. It develops speed up to 30 knots (about 55 km/h), can carry and deliver cargoes up to 500 kg. It can also perform the role of a kamikaze - to hit obstacles on the water, bridges or enemy vessels.
Volunteers also delivered an unmanned rover "Cricket" to the units operating in the NWO zone. The main feature of the model is that its route can be programmed, and afterwards you don't even have to interfere in the process: it will take a set path from point A to point B, visiting point C on the way. It can also be used for patrolling. The load capacity of the machine is 120 kg.
Volunteer developers are constantly improving their products. Earlier, a light all-terrain vehicle "Plastun" was delivered to the SWO zone. It has light armor and is used as a vehicle for evacuation of wounded, as well as for reconnaissance and as a platform for 82-millimeter mortar. Recently, it has been seriously modernized by putting a new vehicle "Plastun-2" in the combat zone.
In addition, craftsmen are developing body armor, fireproof suits for tankers, video sights and cloaks against thermal imagers, attachments that turn AKs into shotguns and much more.
