Russia has a prototype of a new multi-copter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fitted with cameras and a shoulder-launched rocket system.
The multi-copter appears to be a single shot solution, with the aircraft having to land and reload after each shot.
The rocket used is most likely to be the RPG-26 Aglen light anti-tank weapon. The RPG-26 fires the 72.5 mm PG-26 rocket that is armed with a HEAT warhead and has an initial velocity of 144 m/s. It has a maximum effective range (from the ground) of 250 meters, with target penetration of 400 mm of rolled homogenous armor (RHA) plate. RPG-26 weighs 2.9 kilograms (6.4 lb).
A variant of the RPG-26, called the RShG-2, is armed with a thermobaric warhead. The RShG-2 is heavier than the RPG-26 at 3.5 kilograms, and has a reduced direct fire range of 115 meters. The RShG-2 renders enemy manpower ineffective inside rooms with a space of up to 200 cubic meters and inside trenches and bunkers when it explodes 0.5-1.0 meters away from a trench or a firing port.
According to RT, the anti-tank multicopter is part of a wider 'complex' of armed UAVs made of four unmanned platforms with different capabilities and tasks. For this complex, the anti-tank multicopter is joined by an unarmed electro-optic/infrared camera-equipped multicopter for real-time battlefield surveillance and artillery spotting; an unarmed, unmanned helicopter for reconnaissance and cargo delivery; and an armed 'assault' unmanned helicopter that would be able to operate outside the threat envelope of small arms and even some man-portable air defense systems.
“The rocket appears to be unguided and visually sighted, as evidenced by the ‘rocket-eye view’ of the on-board camera in the opening seconds of the footage and the optical sighting system that has been flipped down over the lens,” IHS Jane’s International Defense Review explains.
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Reposted via Next Big Future
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