Flying at Sea: How Drones Can Strengthen the Russian Navy
The Russian Supercam drone has been given the ability to operate in the interests of the Navy. It can patrol, conduct ice reconnaissance and provide target designations. What drones can work for ships and submarines and what tasks to perform, "Izvestia" analyzed.
Promising development
At the IDEX-2025 world arms exhibition held in the UAE, the Unmanned Systems group of companies presented the Supercam SX350 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone. According to the developer, the unmanned VTOL can be used from the deck of a ship. SX350 is suitable for patrolling water area and coastal zone, ensuring safety of civil vessels, ice reconnaissance, as well as for performing tasks in the interests of the Navy - target designation for warships, submarines and coastal missile systems.
Supercam SX350 drone (VTOL)
According to the manufacturer's information, vertical takeoff and landing, as well as a long high-speed horizontal flight SX350 allows you to survey hard-to-reach long objects. The apparatus is capable of being operated by one person, who can launch it from the surface in limited areas, including from the deck of a ship.
Recently, we can see the drone revolution in the military in ground combat. The same revolution is taking place in actions at sea. What kind of drones can be used from the deck of Russian Navy ships and how?
Search and reconnaissance
Visibility from a ship is limited by both optical and radio horizons. In this regard, the use of drones makes it possible to "look" beyond the horizon. They can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, search and fire control. The use of drones in the Arctic is very relevant for tracking ice fields and working out the route of ships and vessels. It is also relevant to use drones when traveling in narrow places or on rivers.
Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle
It is known that the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla conducted experiments on launching Orlan-10 and Eleron-3 UAVs to solve the tasks of controlling missile launches. Thus, the crew of the small missile ship Velikiy Ustyug of the Caspian Flotilla performed practical firing with the Kalibr missile system in 2021. Control of target engagement was carried out by drones of the specified types launched from the missile ship "Dagestan".
Strike drones
At present, on the fields of special military operation, strike drones of "Cube", "Lancet" and other types are actively used to hit a variety of targets. According to open sources, there is a ship version of "Lancet" in the form of a small launcher that holds four devices with folded wings. Accordingly, in case the Black Sea Fleet conducts operations in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, it will be possible to rearm existing ships and boats with such launchers. When conducting raid or landing operations, it will be possible to both hit coastal targets and suppress coastal anti-landing defense facilities. The use of such attack drones will save more expensive cruise missiles of the Onyx or Uran type for hitting more important targets.
Lancet unmanned/barrage munition
Also promising is the use of FPV drones, such as the BT-40 type, to fight small maritime targets like motorboats or uncrewed boats. There is a publicly available video of such FPV drone tests from a Project 22160 patrol ship.
It is also possible to use drones from submarines. Iran has recently demonstrated such technology. A transportation and launch container is launched from underwater, after reaching the surface, the roof is shot off, and the UAV is launched, which then attacks the target. Such technology can be used from a fully submerged marine drone and stealthily attack targets on the enemy's shore by firing several drones. At the same time, they can perform a wider range of tasks. For example, drones can be launched from a submarine for reconnaissance purposes, transferring information to higher headquarters, and attacking shore objects that are expensive to use cruise missiles on.
Large drones
More opportunities for the use of drones for naval purposes are formed when ships of group-based aircraft appear in the Russian Navy. Unfortunately, we currently do not have any such ships in service. The aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" is under repair. Universal landing ships of Project 23900 "Ivan Rogov" and "Mitrofan Moskalenko" are under construction.
It is known that the ships of the project 23900 will be based on sea helicopters of different types, as well as attack and reconnaissance drones of vertical takeoff, and possibly airplane takeoff. These ships will also host an integrated control center for both manned and unmanned systems. This will provide fire support for marines ashore, conduct all sorts of special operations, and so on.
Heavy aircraft carrier cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov
A couple more ships that can also use UAVs, namely the large landing ships of Project 11711 "Vladimir Andreyev" and "Vasily Trushin" are also under construction.
Such ships can carry larger drones capable of other tasks: anti-submarine warfare - search, detection and destruction of submarines; electronic warfare; refueling of deck fighters or other drones; destruction of enemy coastal and sea targets; delivery of cargo and people. Such drones can be made on the basis of "Hunter", "Inokhodets" or other vehicles. Similar technologies are already being actively developed in the fleets of a number of countries. The navies of some states, such as Turkey, China and Iran, are already actively using large UAVs.
The use of drones from the deck of warships has wide prospects already now, and especially in the future. Very soon, large UAVs may take over most of the tasks currently performed by shipboard helicopters. Accordingly, the resource of helicopters and their pilots will be released for other tasks.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
