The Armed Forces of Ukraine are already using loitering ammunition , nicknamed kamikaze drones, Warmate by the Polish company WB Electronics . This was announced on Twitter by an independent researcher of military conflicts under the nickname Arslon Xudosi. Warmate has a combat range of 30 kilometers and can carry warheads weighing up to a kilogram, capable of striking manpower and lightly armored vehicles of the enemy. Interestingly, the plans to release Warmate under Polish license were announced by Cesare (in 2016, it conducted the first tests of this drone).
Warmate drone capabilities
Like Switchblademade in the United States, whose official supplies to Ukraine have already been confirmed by the Pentagon, the Polish UAV system Warmate is a barrage of ammunition. This means that such a drone is able to circle over a given area for a while in search of a target, and then strike in manual or automatic mode. Warmate has a fuselage length of 1.1 meters and a wingspan of 1.6 meters and a takeoff weight of 5.7 kilograms. It flies at low altitudes of 150 to 300 meters with an operating speed of up to 80 km / h, which increases to 150 km / h before impact. Ammunition can spend in the air a little more than an hour, and can be launched from an airplane, ground vehicle, catapult or ground launcher (resembling a mortar). The manufacturer's promo video shows that a set of drones, catapults and flight control equipment can be carried by 2 people.
What else is included in the Warmate complex
A special Warmate Tube Launch is installed on the ground or in the vehicle to start from the ground. The design of the folding wings, Warmate allows you to shoot ammunition from the launcher with. compressed air.
The Warmate R reconnaissance drone is a type of Warmate drone for target adjustment. Instead of ammunition, it is equipped with three cameras that allow you to monitor the target. Unlike the kamikaze drone, this modification can be used repeatedly, for example, in conjunction with conventional Warmate.
An improved version of the drone with the supposed name Warmate 2 has increased combat payload and significantly greater takeoff weight than the first model (30 kg vs. 5.7). Flight time increased to 2 hours, top speed to 160 km / h, and the drone received a built-in infrared thermal imager camera. Warmate 2 is only intended for launches from a vehicle equipped with a special catapult.
What makes Cesar
The Chernihiv Radio Equipment Plant Public Joint Stock Company (CheZaRa) was established on the basis of the Chernihiv Radio Equipment Plant, a state-owned enterprise designed by the USSR and working for the Soviet Union's defense and rocket and space complex. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been developing fire control systems for armored combat modules (such as " Desna "). And it produces electronic-optical systems for the Armed Forces to search for targets and track the battlefield. In 2016, Cesare purchased a WAR Electronics UAV Warmate and a license to manufacture it in Ukraine.
It is known that several types of warheads have been developed for Warmate:
- high-explosive fragmentation GO-1 and GO-2 - To defeat enemy manpower in the open. GO-1 carries a charge of 300 grams with a spread of debris of 10 meters, there is no data on GO-2, there is only speculation that its power is increased compared to GO-1
- cumulative GK-1 - to destroy lightly armored (with armor thickness up to 120 mm) equipment, can be used against armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guns and tanks (due to the possibility of UAV attack in the least protected upper part of the tank)
- thermobaric GTB-1 - to create a "volumetric" explosion - sprayed in the air, and then explosive inflammatory mixture
- optical GS-9 - optoelectronic visual reconnaissance station with image stabilization in two planes
Who is Arslon Xudosi
The pseudonym Arslon Xudosi translates from Uzbek as "god of lions". Behind him is an independent researcher who specializes in the activities of Syrian Turkmen, foreign mercenaries in Syria and Ukraine, as well as military research from open sources in Syria and Europe. He is one of the authors of Bellingcat and a staff member of Offbeat - OSINT-platform ( O pen S ource INT elligence intelligence based on open sources) for independent researchers and analysts.
