Will Russia's Inokhodets UAV be a "nightmare" for Ukrainian artillery?

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense , the Inokhodets unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will soon be included in the country's military campaign to neutralize Ukrainian artillery.

UAV Inokhodets và chiến thuật mới của Nga tại Ukraine

Russia's Inokhodets UAV, combined with effective light glide bombs, could be a match for Russian artillery. (Source: forcaaerea)

Multi-function UAV 'strange yet familiar'

Artillery is considered one of Ukraine's most effective forces. Therefore, neutralizing this force is an important task of the weapons that Russia is testing.

It is known that the Russian army has tested the Inokhodets UAV in real combat conditions and is preparing to put it into the country's military campaign.

To date, the Russian Ministry of Defense has only released a single video of the use of the Inokhodets UAV to attack armored vehicles.

The Inokhodets UAV made its first flight on October 10, 2016. It is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV.

The export version of Inokhodets is Orion, with a take-off weight of up to 1,000 kg, a combat radius of 250 km, an altitude of 7,500 m, and a speed of 200 km/h. Most likely, the domestic version will have many more superior features.

However, the export version of the “Orion” has already outperformed the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 long-range reconnaissance and attack UAV. Both UAVs belong to the tactical drone segment.

Inokhodets is a multi-purpose UAV. Depending on the payload, it is capable of taking high-resolution photos and videos, acting as a flying radar station, collecting radio intelligence and conducting electronic reconnaissance.

Perfect combination with light glide bombs

The tactical effectiveness of the Inokhodets UAV is rated relatively high. In addition to guided anti-tank missiles, this UAV can be equipped with guided bombs KAB-20, KAB-50, glide bombs UPAB-50, free-fall bombs FAB-50.

Of course, these bombs are less powerful than the FAB-500 or FAB-1000 heavy bombs designed for bombers. But the mission of UAVs is to destroy targets with high precision, not to destroy a large area.

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict demonstrated the effectiveness of small-sized bombs. Azerbaijan's Bayraktar UAVs, equipped with compact guided bombs MAM-C and MAM-L, became a "nightmare" for the Armenian military. At that time, Azerbaijani UAVs attacked air defense facilities, artillery positions, command posts, and in some cases, even infantry units.

Currently, both the Russian and Ukrainian armies are widely using these weapons. In addition, attack UAVs are being used together with artillery units for counterattacks. According to the soldiers, such “little birds” can operate much more flexibly.

First, light glide bombs allow UAVs to “cause nightmares” for the armed forces' close rear areas without flying into their air defense identification zones.

Second, thanks to being equipped with missiles, they are of great help to the army and tactical air force in destroying armored vehicles.

In addition, the Inokhodets UAV can support self-propelled artillery. While self-propelled artillery teams can fire laser-guided Krasnopol shells, the Inokhodets UAV will help “highlight” targets more, even from a much greater distance than the Orlan UAV, which is considered the “eye” of Russian artillery.

“If there is such a ‘little bird’ every 50 km of the front line, we can forget about Ukrainian artillery,” the commander of one of the artillery divisions of the 1st Army emphasized. “The Giatsint self-propelled gun has a range of up to 30 km. We can destroy ground artillery, but not high-mobility rocket artillery systems HIMARS. And such a UAV will make it easier to track high-mobility rocket artillery systems MLRS.”

In December 2021, the Kronstadt company completed construction of Russia's first factory dedicated to the production of attack UAVs and helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles. Therefore, Russia's special operations military operations will certainly see more Inokhodets UAVs.

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