In recent days, the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield has created two more history: one is the history of suspected drones shooting down human fighter , and the other is the history of drones shooting down drones. Of course, both cases have relatively low levels, unlike what you see in science fiction movies. However, if we consider that the first time humans used aircraft to conduct air combat was to shoot each other with pistols in the convertible biplane in the early stages of World War I , then the significance of these two histories created on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield is still very important.
Let’s look at the first case first. The Ukrainian Air Force released a report on social media saying that a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter crashed after shooting down the "Shahid-136" suicide drone made by Iran, and the pilot ejected and escaped. There were subsequent rumors online that the reason why the MiG-29 crashed was because the "Shahid-136" that was shot down was too close to the MiG-29 when it exploded. It might be that the explosion fragment shot down the MiG-29, or that the MiG-29's air inlet sucked into the engine, causing the engine to fail.
Another case is a video circulating on social media, which is said to have been taken over the Donetsk area. The screen shows a DJI four-rotor drone controlled by the Ukrainian army. In the camera, it is found that another DJI drone controlled by Russia is hovering not far away. The Russian drone then moves towards the Ukrainian drone, as if it wants to actively collide. As a result, during the collision, the Russian drone damaged a propeller blade and then crashed. In response to this, the American "War Zone" website also came to the title party: The first drone air combat in human history has been completed.
If this is also considered an "air combat", the level is indeed too low. In fact, the drone air combat envisioned by various countries should be that one drone launches missile , or uses cannon to shoot down the other drone. According to public reports, both China and the United States have tried such air combat. As early as 2020, the US Air Force released photos of an AIM-9X air-to-air missile mounted under the wing of the MQ-1 "Preater" drone.
. At the 2021 Zhuhai Air Show, the Tianyan-90 air-to-air missiles were placed next to the Wingshode-10 and Wingshode-2 drones exhibited by our army, which shows that the Tianyan-90 has become the standard weapon of these two drones, and my country must have conducted launch tests.
In addition, at the end of 2020, the Russian Military Industry Federation also issued a statement saying that the Russian military conducted a series of "hunter" drone tests in the form of a fighter / interceptor with simulated air-to-air missiles for the first time. However, this is a simulated air-to-air missile after all. Russia has not announced the news that the Hunter drone has launched a real air-to-air missile.
So, China and the United States have taken the lead in preparing for real drone air combat. However, China and the United States are still flawed in preparing for drone air combat. There are two biggest problems, one is that drone warning is difficult to do. Drones are low-slow and small targets, and it is difficult to detect ordinary radar . For this target, special radars need to be developed and large-scale networks can be used to achieve large-scale early warnings, which is too expensive. The other is that the Chinese and American drones use infrared-guided air-to-air missiles. This guidance method requires that the target has relatively strong infrared radiation.
However, for small suicide drones like Iran's "Shahid-136", infrared guided air-to-air missiles may not work properly. This is because the Shahid-136 uses a small gasoline engine to drive propellers to provide power, and the heat emitted to the outside is extremely small and far from comparable to a jet engine. Therefore, the editors of the US "War Zone" website all doubt whether the news that the Ukrainian Air Force's MiG-29 fighter jet shot down five "Shahid-136" drones was true. Because it is a question whether the radar of the MiG-29 fighter can detect the very small RCS "Shahid-136", it is a question, and the infrared seeker of R-73 is less likely to lock on the "Shahid-136".
Therefore, how to deal with small drones and wandering ammunition in the future is a difficult problem facing all countries. Perhaps cheap, dedicated air combat drones with AI technology will come into being. In any case, the curtain has been opened for human drone air combat.
