Russia Is Developing a Mysterious Unmanned Strike Aircraft

By Dave Majumdar

Russia has started development of a new unmanned strike aircraft in the same general class as the General Atomics Avenger. The Russian defense ministry awarded a contract to the Simonov design bureau late last year one day after Christmas on December 26.

“It should be equipped with a turbojet engine that gives the unmanned vehicle speeds at least two times greater than those of analogous propeller drones,” a Russian defense industry source told RIA Novosti according to the Russian-language Izvestia newspaper [3].

According to the paper, the aircraft would be capable of speeds of 1000kmph or roughly 600mph. Very few additional details are available except that the Russians compared the aircraft directly to the Avenger design.

Based on the available information, it is likely that the aircraft would be an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform that would be used in moderately contested airspace or perhaps the maritime environment. Future developments might eventually evolve into machines capable of flying into anti-access/area-denial environments.

SIGN UP FOR FREE TO CONTINUE READING

Hint: The password should be at least twelve characters long. To make it stronger, use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols like ! " ? $ % ^ & ).

First Name

Last Name

E-mail Address

Full Name LEAVE THIS BLANK

SIGN UP FOR FREE TO CONTINUE READING

More From Warrior Maven