Kalashnikov Makes an Explosive Suicide Drone

AlphaAtlas

[H]ard|Gawd
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Kalashnikov is perhaps best known for their long-running series of rifles, but recently, the Russian defense manufacturer has been making headlines with a variety of forward looking contraptions. The company recently revealed neural network-controlled gun turrets, a 4.5 ton mech, and an electric vehicle with "retro" styling that is (theoretically) supposed to compete with Tesla. Now, at a time when authorities around the world are worried about nefarious uses for cheap, mass produced drones, Kalashnikov decided to stop beating around the bush and make a dedicated suicide drone. The company's press release claims that the "KUB-UAV," which was made in cooperation with Zala Aero Group, can fly for 30 minutes at up to 80 miles an hour, deliver a "payload" of up to 3kg, and is shorter than 4 feet along its longest edge. While it made no mention of costs, the drone appears to be significantly cheaper than your average guided missile system, and Kalashnikov mentions that it's "noiseless," easy to launch, and easy to handle. Thanks to New Atlas for the tip.

Check out a video of the kamikaze drone here.


Sergey Chemezov, Rostec CEO: "The charge on this complex is delivered to the target, regardless of its secrecy and terrain, both small and at high altitudes. This is a very accurate and most effective weapon that is very difficult to fight with using traditional air defense systems."
 
Accurate?... it missed. :rolleyes::D:rolleyes:

Great for a film plot though... Speed 3: Outrun the Drone
 
Just imagine a few dozen of these at major airports in the US. Laugh all you want, the threat is real- drones are cheap. And now we have the AK-47 version.
 
Just imagine a few dozen of these at major airports in the US. Laugh all you want, the threat is real- drones are cheap. And now we have the AK-47 version.
I'd imagine the more likely scenario is shipping container dispensers staged on cargo ships making port at coastal cities.

(This definitely just got me on a government list.)
 
Imagine a single guy with a van full of these, releasing a couple of these at a time from isolated areas at major electrical substations & power lines. In some areas you could have millions of people losing power within a week of doing this. (And I am probably on those government lists already.)
 
The small size +small heat signature and relatively low sound is what sets these apart from missiles, it makes them hard to follow on most radar systems, specially if it can be flown relatively close to the ground. This makes them relatively more effective than expected. The basic defense is a jamming perimeter around important targets.
 
The small size +small heat signature and relatively low sound is what sets these apart from missiles, it makes them hard to follow on most radar systems, specially if it can be flown relatively close to the ground. This makes them relatively more effective than expected. The basic defense is a jamming perimeter around important targets.

Or just driving fast & shooting at it... it'd work in movies. :D
 
The small size +small heat signature and relatively low sound is what sets these apart from missiles, it makes them hard to follow on most radar systems, specially if it can be flown relatively close to the ground. This makes them relatively more effective than expected. The basic defense is a jamming perimeter around important targets.

Quoting myself to add:
The counter's counter is to add some basic visual tracking system that you can set up on the drone. If it's accurate enough it should be able to track the movement of a person. Fun times, huh?
 
Quoting myself to add:
The counter's counter is to add some basic visual tracking system that you can set up on the drone. If it's accurate enough it should be able to track the movement of a person. Fun times, huh?

Detecting even a stationary human shaped object is pretty trivial now days. The counter is to crouch into a ball and roll everywhere, so the drone won't recognize you.
 
When these are on the front line the front line will go robotic. Dancing heavy-weapons machine-gun dog is getting armor plating and range-adjustable 40mm air burst grenades.
 
What if the drone has a life reaffirmation moment and decides it doesn't want to commit suicide?
 
Detecting even a stationary human shaped object is pretty trivial now days. The counter is to crouch into a ball and roll everywhere, so the drone won't recognize you.

Lol :)

But yeah, a small ir camera + regular camera, remotely pilot it until the target is visible, activate the auto tracking and just do small course corrections if needed, even if it finds jamming then it will continue on course to collide and explode.

Remote killing in a personalized way, a bit cleaner than just carpet bombing an area. Should reduce the amount of civilians affected.
 
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