Drone defense

Main article: UAV

Electronic warfare

Main article: Electronic warfare (electronic warfare)

Chronicle

2024

Rosseti buys guns to destroy drones for ₽549 million

In October 2024, Rosseti announced a tender for the protection of 32 facilities in the Sverdlovsk region, including protection against unmanned aerial vehicles. The cost of the two-year contract is ₽549 million, and the guards will be equipped with special anti-drone guns. Read more here.

₽11 billion pledged to protect Russian airports from drones

The Russian government plans to allocate more than ₽11 billion to protect public and private airports from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the next two years. These funds are intended to ensure the safety of 11 category I air transport infrastructure facilities. This became known at the end of September 2024.

According to CNews, this information is contained in the updated version of the federal project "Infrastructure Development, Security and Formation of a Specialized Certification System for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ALS)." The project is part of a national ALS development project launched in January 2024.

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Freepik

According to the document, in 2025 it is planned to spend ₽966 million to protect one federal airfield. In 2026, another ₽9,7 billion will be allocated to ensure the safety of ten similar facilities. In total, 31 large airports should be equipped with anti-drone protection systems by 2028, Russia of which 20 are federally owned and 11 are privately owned.

Pavel Kamnev, commercial director of the Laboratory of the Future, noted that protecting airports from UAVs requires an integrated approach. According to him, it is necessary to create a safe perimeter with an extensive network of drone detection and countermeasures systems, given the large area of ​ ​ airports and the variety of infrastructure facilities.

Alexander Kaniovsky, First Deputy General Director of Fly Drone, stressed the importance of integrating airport defenses with military air defense systems. He recommended the installation of complexes capable of jamming UAV satellite navigation signals and blocking their control channels, as well as the use of ground-based kinetic means and interceptor drones.^[1]

Russian troops received BMD-4M and BMP-3 with capes hiding combat vehicles in the thermal and radar spectrum

On October 8, 2024, the state corporation Rostec announced that Russian troops had received BMD-4M landing vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles BMP-3 with sets of additional protection. The equipment was manufactured at the Kurganmashzavod enterprise, which is part of the High-Precision Complexes holding as part of Rostec. Read more here

In Russia, an anti-aircraft artillery complex of the Derivation 2S38 is presented to destroy drones with guided detonation shells

In mid-August 2024, the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation presented the Derivation 2S38 anti-aircraft artillery complex, designed to destroy drones with guided detonation shells. This 57-mm gun is capable of sending a projectile for 9.5 km. Read more here.

Kurganmashzavod sent BMP-3 and BMD-4M combat vehicles equipped with additional drone protection and electronic warfare devices to Russian troops

On August 30, 2024, it became known about the supply of modernized BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles and BMD-4M landing vehicles to the Russian armed forces. The equipment produced by Kurganmashzavod JSC received enhanced protection from unmanned aerial vehicles and is equipped with electronic warfare systems. Read more here

Using laser guns to combat UAVs in China

In mid-August 2024, it became known that China had installed laser-guided energy weapons on the landing ship to counter drones, satellite networks and other advanced attack or surveillance technologies. Read more here.

In Russia, presented an anti-aircraft installation with a thermal imager and remote control to destroy drones

In mid-August 2024, NTC Elins JSC presented the ZU-23AE complex - a Soviet 23-mm anti-aircraft gun, modified to combat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The complex is equipped with a thermal imager and remote control, and projectiles with programmable air detonation are used to destroy drones. Read more here.

In Russia, released a high-strength antenna for installation on anti-drone shelters

Holding "Roselectronics," which is part of the state corporation "Rostec," on August 2, 2024 announced the development of a high-strength ultra-wideband transceiver antenna, capable of functioning in combination with anti-drone shelters known as "barbecues." The new device is versatile and can be used with a wide range of radio stations. Read more here.

In Russia, an Aegis-U anti-crash blanket is presented, which protects cars from drones

In July 2024, the Russian company NII Steel, part of the Kalashnikov concern of the Rostec state corporation, presented a new Egida-U anti-crash blanket capable of protecting unarmored cars from drone attacks. Video demonstration of the protective properties of the product was carried out as part of the "Our Crash" project. Read more here.

Manual shooting of drones and suppression systems. Russian companies rushed to buy products and services to protect against UAVs

TAdviser analyzed open procurement information, including planned ones, on various trading floors and found that from May to early July, the number of tenders for the supply of solutions and services related to protection against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) increased significantly. Energy and industrial enterprises are showing the greatest interest in them, but the matter is not limited to them.

For example, Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (part of Norilsk Nickel), according to the published procurement plan, in July expects to purchase work on equipping its TETs-1 with a system for detecting, classifying and countering unmanned aircraft Kaspersky Antidrone^[2]. For this, the company is ready to pay 39.4 million rubles.

A large producer of thermal and electrical energy in the Rostov region and the Stavropol Territory Lukoil-Rostovenergo has planned two purchases of UAV detection and countermeasures complexes^[3].

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"Rostec"

Also in July, Quadra-Generating Company plans to purchase construction and installation work on the installation of mesh fences to protect the technological equipment of the Belgorod TPP from UAVs. The company is part of Rosatom Infrastructure Solutions and is engaged in the production and sale of electricity in the wholesale market, as well as the production, transportation and sale of thermal energy in the retail market. She also plans construction and installation work to protect the GIS (gas-insulated switchgears) of the Belgorod thermal power plant from UAVs with sheet steel ^[4]].

At the same time, earlier, in May, the Quadra-Generating Company had already signed a contract for the supply of UAV protection equipment^[5].

The Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Plant (a subsidiary of Rosatom State Corporation, part of TVEL) in July purchases the UAV Suppressor UAV^[6]

Among the purchases planned for July are the provision of services for examining and optimizing the work of the existing complex of engineering and technical security equipment, as well as threats from drones and UAVs for Rosseti Center^[7], and its sister company Rosseti Moskovsky Region, in July, is requesting proposals for the supply of UAV protection^[8]. The delivery of portable portable omnidirectional UAV detectors is planned for the needs of Yakutskenergo (part of the RusHydro group) ^[9]. And in terms of procurement of the government of the Pskov region - the supply of manual UAV suppressors^[10].

Kaluga International Airport in July is going to purchase services for theoretical and practical^[11] training its specialists in the program to counter threats from low-flying UAVs using small arms (smooth-bore weapons).

Among the major tenders of June 2024 - for the introduction of a hardware and software complex for detecting and countering UAVs at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk international airport with an initial price of about 295 million rubles^[12]."

In June, Omsk Polypropylene Plant also announced a request for proposals for the supply of a device for protecting objects from UAVs^[13].

Analysis of open information on procurement shows that most often the services and means of protection against UAVs are acquired by enterprises of the energy sector, the oil and gas industry, transport facilities. But demand is not limited to them. So, for example, in July, the purchase of a UAV suppressor is also planned at Mosfilm^[14].

Various regions of the Russian Federation face the threat of drone attacks. According to one of the latest official messages of the Ministry of Defense related to this topic, during the night of July 8-9, three UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod Region were destroyed and intercepted by air defense systems on duty, seven UAVs over the territory of the Kursk region, two UAVs over the territory of the Voronezh region, 21 UAVs over the territory of the Rostov region and five UAVs over the territory of the Astrakhan region^[15] of the Russian^[16].

Armored panels are presented in Russia to protect oil depots and gas storage facilities from UAVs

On July 11, 2024, it became known that innovative armored panels were presented in Russia, designed to protect oil depots and gas storage facilities from attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The new development has successfully passed the first tests, demonstrating high efficiency in countering modern threats. Read more here

In St. Petersburg, the production of mini-computers has begun to protect any drones from cyber threats

St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg State University) announced the release of security modules to protect unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from cyber threats. Innovative development is a software and hardware solution that can detect and neutralize malware that disrupts the functioning of drones in real time . The module is based on the popular Raspberry Pi board and GPS tracker. Read more here.

2023

Growth of the volume of the Russian market for civilian devices for protection against drones up to 10 billion rubles

At the end of 2023, the volume of the Russian market for civilian devices for protection against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) amounted to 10 billion rubles. In 2024, the costs in this segment are estimated at 30 billion rubles. Such figures were announced on October 22, 2024 by the Vector Research Institute, which is part of the Roselectronics holding of the Rostec state corporation.

Systems of different types are taken into consideration. These are special anti-drone guns, signal silencers, radar stations (radars), mobile means of protection in transport. UAV countermeasures consist of two main components - detection and protection devices. To identify drones, a radio frequency method or radar with further confirmation from a photo or video is most often used. For protection, electronic warfare (electronic warfare) is used - the effect on the radio channels and navigation units of the drone, as a result of which the connection between the drone and the control center is broken or the operability of the on-board systems is disrupted.

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Rostec

According to Natalya Kotlyar, Deputy Director for Business Development of the Vector Research Institute, Russian enterprises prefer mainly suppression rather than detection. At the same time, the choice of countermeasures systems largely depends on the type of protected structure or territory. For example, at factories, airfields, thermal power plants and a number of other critical infrastructure facilities, comprehensive layered protection is needed, not an anti-drone gun.

The average price for a typical drone protection system varies in the range from 50 million to 60 million rubles, and for large facilities it can reach 200-300 million rubles. Anti-drone guns capable of suppressing the drone signal at a distance of up to 1 km cost from 250 thousand rubles.^[17]

A Russian anti-drone complex has been presented that detects "radio wandering" drones from 11 km

In early December 2023, the Defense mobile complex was presented, designed to combat drones. The system was developed by specialists of the Research Institute "Vector" to protect various facilities of long and short length - hydro- and nuclear power plants, oil and gas pipelines, airports, sea and river ports, as well as facilities of law enforcement agencies. Read more here.

Rostelecom presented its complex of protection of enterprises from drones

In September 2023, Rostelecom presented an automated complex to protect the perimeter of industrial enterprises from unmanned aerial vehicles. The system was called "RT Attack." Read more here.

Russian military received a system for protecting tanks from FPV drones "Triton"

The Russian military received the Triton FPV drone tank protection system developed by the Laboratory for Countering Industrial Espionage JSC (PPSh Laboratory). The company told about this at the end of August 2023. Read more here.

Russian company unveils FPV system for intercepting and destroying drones from 7 km

At the end of August 2023, the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CCBR) announced the creation of an FPV-system (first-person view) for the destruction of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and low-flying manned equipment. The range of the complex is 7 km with an altitude of up to 2 km. Read more here.

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