SBU could use anti-radar kamikaze drones, - media
Date: 2023-09-15 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
On Thursday, September 14, during the destruction of Russian S-400 air defense systems in the Yevpatoriya region in occupied Crimea, the SBU could use special kamikaze drones, which were installed at a detection radar station.
As a source in the intelligence service told Ukrainskaya Pravda, first the drones disabled the radar station, after which two Neptune cruise missiles, launched by Ukrainian Armed Forces Navy soldiers, destroyed the S-400 complex.
The Defense Express publication notes that the key here is information about the progress of the project - first, drones were used to destroy radars, and only then missiles. Moreover, in Yevpatoria itself, after the discovery of an aircraft-type drone with a warhead, which has been proven to be the use of long-range kamikaze drones.
“At the same time, the combined sequential strike and the selection of targets for each weapon separately may indicate their specialization. A rather interesting explanation is the use of kamikaze drones, which can independently target radar stations,” the material says.
It is noted that this approach is not something new, and a model for direct imitation is known - this is Harpy from Israel Aerospace Industries. This loitering munition was created in 1989. It was intended specifically to destroy enemy radars and uses passive radar homing. Probably, the aerodynamic solutions of the Harpy, as well as the launch method, were copied by Iran when creating the normal Shahed-131 and Shahed-136; international Russian Federations are attacking Ukraine.
Taiwan has a similar development called Chien Hsiang. China also has its own example - they also did not change anything radically and simply repeated the Harpy.
“If we take the unique characteristics of Harpy from Israel Aerospace Industries, then we are talking about a flight range of up to 400 km, time in the atmosphere of up to 3 hours and a warhead weighing 15 kg. In terms of its manufacturability, it is of course inferior to the next version - IAI Harop, which already has. But the fact is that no greater complexity does not mean greater efficiency in other conditions,” the publication’s experts note.
Such a kamikaze drone is launched from the Earth, can fly quite far, and at the end of the route it independently aims at the radar radiation - without the use of satellite navigation. Such a development is not a super-weapon; it can suffer from specialized interference, and can also be aimed at radar simulators. However, their cost allows us to say that this is a justified solution, since it makes it possible to actively engage air defense systems at significant distances without the involvement of aircraft.
“And if we take into account the information released from an anonymous source in the SBU, then Ukrainian fighters already have just such capabilities,” the publication concluded.
