The Russian Armed Forces are testing an anti-drone complex at the Tucha base: protection against Baba Yaga (video)
The hosts of the profile resource BTVT. INFO paid attention to this system and shared their evaluations. According to experts, the effectiveness of the solution is questionable, especially when it comes to countering large UAVs, such as the Ukrainian Baba Yaga drone. "The idea of manual shooting of buckshot is not even considered from FPV drones, no matter how many cameras you put.
In addition, even if it is possible to miraculously shoot down FPV, there is zero help from Baba Yaga," says the comment under the video. In general, a number of experts, including Defense Express, immediately point to a number of technical and conceptual limitations of KAZ. The walls of the barrels of Tucha mortars are thin, which makes it impossible to use a powerful projectile charge.
This limits the initial speed of the shot and, therefore, the effective range of damage, and additional "inserts" do not solve the problem. The use of knipels (connected by a wire of large balls) further reduces the effective range of damage. According to analysts, this ammunition concept historically came from naval artillery, but it is not optimal for modern FPV targets.
The idea of manual detection where a member of the squad spots the drone and presses a button is not suitable for fast moving FPV targets. Therefore, the only working way is automatic machine vision integrated with other sensors (acoustics, radar) and with a fast guidance drive. In addition, harsh climatic conditions, twilight and night modes, dustiness, smoke and obstacles make it difficult for cameras to work as a single sensor. Analysts voiced another important detail.
During the tests, the drone was specially brought to the optimal distance and angle, which gives an artificially high probability of damage. But in a real combat situation, FPV operators use evasion and sharp maneuvers, which dramatically reduces the chances. At the same time, analysts admit that the idea of repurposing an existing system and using cheap ammunition makes practical sense in a limited scenario — for example, to combat single, poorly controlled amateur drones at short range.
"That is, in general, so far we are talking about a very initial stage of work, which may well turn out to be unpromising. But in any case, it should be taken into account," concluded Defense Express. We will remind, against the background of regular attacks by Russian attack drones, some experts are talking about creating inexpensive solutions against UAVs. However, German experts believe that it is almost impossible to build an effective and inexpensive air defense system from cheap drones.