Russia has armed a multi-copter drone with a light anti-tank RPG

Russia has a prototype of a new multi-copter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fitted with cameras and a shoulder-launched rocket system.

The multi-copter appears to be a single shot solution, with the aircraft having to land and reload after each shot.

The rocket used is most likely to be the RPG-26 Aglen light anti-tank weapon. The RPG-26 fires the 72.5 mm PG-26 rocket that is armed with a HEAT warhead and has an initial velocity of 144 m/s. It has a maximum effective range (from the ground) of 250 meters, with target penetration of 400 mm of rolled homogenous armor (RHA) plate. RPG-26 weighs 2.9 kilograms (6.4 lb).

A variant of the RPG-26, called the RShG-2, is armed with a thermobaric warhead. The RShG-2 is heavier than the RPG-26 at 3.5 kilograms, and has a reduced direct fire range of 115 meters. The RShG-2 renders enemy manpower ineffective inside rooms with a space of up to 200 cubic meters and inside trenches and bunkers when it explodes 0.5-1.0 meters away from a trench or a firing port.

According to RT, the anti-tank multicopter is part of a wider ‘complex’ of armed UAVs made of four unmanned platforms with different capabilities and tasks. For this complex, the anti-tank multicopter is joined by an unarmed electro-optic/infrared camera-equipped multicopter for real-time battlefield surveillance and artillery spotting; an unarmed, unmanned helicopter for reconnaissance and cargo delivery; and an armed ‘assault’ unmanned helicopter that would be able to operate outside the threat envelope of small arms and even some man-portable air defense systems.

“The rocket appears to be unguided and visually sighted, as evidenced by the ‘rocket-eye view’ of the on-board camera in the opening seconds of the footage and the optical sighting system that has been flipped down over the lens,” IHS Jane’s International Defense Review explains.

RPG-26

RPGs capable of taking out a Main Battle Tank weigh about 10-12 kg

Russia RPG-29’s PG-29V tandem-charge warhead is one of the few anti-tank weapons that can penetrate the frontal hulls of Western composite-armored main battle tanks

RPG-29

The RPG-30 was unveiled in 2008 by the State Research and Production Enterprise, Bazalt, as a modern anti-tank grenade launcher designed to address the challenge of reactive armor and active protection systems (APS) on tanks.

The RPG-30, like the RPG-27, is a man-portable, disposable anti-tank rocket launcher with a single shot capacity. Unlike the RPG-27 however, there is a smaller diameter precursor round in a side tube, in addition to the main round in the main tube. The precursor round is fired shortly before the main round and acts as a decoy, tricking the target’s active protection system (APS) into engaging it. The APS is not ready to engage again until 0.2–0.4 seconds later, allowing the main round time to hit the target.

The PG-30 is the main round of the RPG-30. The round is a 105-mm tandem shaped charge with a weight of 10.3 kg (22.7 lb) and has a range of 200 meters and a stated penetration capability in excess of 600 mm (24-in) of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA), 1,500 mm of reinforced concrete, 2,000 mm of brick and 3,700 mm of soil. Reactive armor, including explosive reactive armor (ERA), can be defeated with multiple hits into the same place, such as by tandem-charge weapons, which fire two or more shaped charges in rapid succession.

In 2012 Israel Defense reported that the Rafael military-industrial corporation has developed a defense system, “windbreaker”, against the RPG-30, to supplement the existing Trophy. It consists of a 360-degree radar that detects all threats and launches 17 projectiles, of which one should strike the incoming missile

SOURCES- Wikipedia, Diplomat, IHS Janes, Youtube