Tried but failed: why did the swarm of drones overcome the China's army

During military exercises, the NVAK tried to resist switches, but as a result, only 40% of them managed to repel. These results are the question of creating multi -level UAV protection. Experts believe that a multi-level defense containing radio-electronic obstacles, "Earth-air-air" rockets and lasers may be required to effectively combat switches.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (NVAK) recently tested its capabilities to combat switches, having achieved only 40 percent success in counteracting swarms from 11-12 drones. Focus translated the article by American journalist Peter Sucheu about the effectiveness of a pack of battle drones, which the Chinese found during the exercises. The drones continue to change the situation on a modern battlefield.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used with great success against the main combat tanks (VTTs), columns of equipment and even the leading positions of the enemy. Even a single UAV with a first person (FPV) is difficult to resist, and the so -called "swarms" of drones can be quickly suppressed by the enemy.

"Swarms are superior to drones with individual controls between drones, which allows to transmit information collected by the sensors of one drone, directly to the whole group and adjust its behavior without the additional participation of the operator or commanders," Josh Curtis and Anthony de Luke-Bararatta writes writes For The National Interest. The US Armed Forces study options for counteracting this threat, but their successes are limited. The good news is that the same is true for China.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (NVAK) recently conducted a operation to combat switches, during which only 40% swarm was able to reflect. Chinese state media reported at the beginning of last month that during recent exercises, the NVAK had a test of its opportunities in the fight against swarm drones. According to reports, the swarm consisted of only 11-12 commercial-type drones.

The task of the 77th group of the Land Liberation Army was the destruction of drones-two types of tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery units were used for this purpose. The Janes International Military Analytical Company reports that she analyzed the video and "found that at first the UAV battle has entered Type 95 anti-aircraft self-propel They also made an initial response to UAV.

" According to Janes, "PGZ-95 is equipped with 25 mm guns tour 87 with a fire control system covering an electro-optic complex installed in the nasal part of the tower. The complex contains a TV chamber tracking with a range of 6 km and laser rangefinder (LRF) with a range of 500-5500 m. All this helps to calculate data for weapons.

" Anti -aircraft installations reached only 40% of the hits, which is much less effective than they would like to do - and it should be added that only a dozen drones were discussed. If the swarm consisted of several tens or perhaps hundreds of UAVs, it would mean that a significant percentage of them would break through. "Shooting on switches of drones still remains difficult because of their speed and small size, as well as the ability to change the trajectory Engineering.

Air defense systems designed to combat manned aircraft and missiles remain effective against individual drones, but the problem is their cost. Anti -aircraft missiles, which cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, are simply not suitable for combating drones. To counteract drones require multi-level protection, including electronic obstacles, land-air missiles, melee weapons (CIWS), weapons, and lasers. Even this may not be enough to stop a large swarm of drones.

But this is a problem not only faced by the US military. Peter Suchyu is a journalist from Michigan. During his twenty-year journalistic career, he participated in the work of more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites, publishing more than 3,200 materials. He regularly writes about military equipment, firearms, cybersecurity, politics and international affairs. Peter is also the author of articles for Forbes and Clerance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @petersuciu.