The main function is as a target drone
This is the original use of the drone, which can be used for testing and training of ground air defense and air combat weapons. For example, the MD2R5 target drone developed by Northrop Company in the United States has a maximum flight altitude of 8,250 meters and can be equipped with infrared tracer tubes and radar signals. The drone enhancer can also bring a towed target as a target for artillery and missiles. The BQM-34 target drone of the American Ryan Company has a flying speed of Mach 1.5 and a flying altitude of 18,300 meters. It can be used to simulate enemy fighter jets. Facing the increasingly serious threat of anti-ship missiles, the U.S. Navy has also developed the BQM-74C sea-skimming drone to evaluate shipboard anti-missile systems.
Reconnaissance and surveillance
This is also one of the earliest uses of drones. Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft can penetrate deep into the front lines of positions and behind enemy lines for one to two hundred kilometers, or even further. It relies on equipment such as visible light cameras, movie cameras, standard or low-light television cameras, infrared scanners and radars installed on the aircraft to complete various reconnaissance and surveillance tasks. Generally speaking, a UAV can carry one or several types of reconnaissance equipment, work according to predetermined procedures or ground instructions, and finally transmit the obtained information and images back to the ground at any time for use by relevant departments; it can also All the information obtained is recorded and will be retrieved once the drone is recovered. With the development and application of high and new technologies, the performance of equipment on UAVs is also constantly improving, and some new equipment has been added, further expanding the scope of applications. For example, after being equipped with the Global Positioning System (GPS), UAVs can be used in conjunction with reconnaissance satellites and manned reconnaissance aircraft to form a high, medium and low-altitude, multi-level and multi-directional three-dimensional aerial reconnaissance and surveillance network, so that the intelligence information obtained can be More accurate and reliable.
Decoy the enemy
Using drones to attract enemy firepower or the entire air defense system, and then damage or destroy them, is a method developed for drones in the past decade or two.
Unmanned aircraft
new uses. The main mission of UAVs used as decoys is to cooperate with other electronic reconnaissance equipment to carry out decoy reconnaissance; or as penetration tools to provide air defense suppression for manned aircraft; or to be used in conjunction with anti-radiation weapons to suppress and destroy enemy air defense systems . For this reason, this drone is different from drones used for other purposes. In order to improve the deception effect as a decoy, some measures are often taken, such as special design and installation of appropriate electronic equipment so that it has maneuverability and signal characteristics similar to those of the target to be simulated; installation of corner reflectors and other indispensable Source device to increase the radar reflection area of ??the UAV; install radio frequency amplification equipment to enhance the radar reflection signal. In short, it is to do everything possible to make it easy for the enemy to discover it and attract the enemy's attention. Generally speaking, when performing a deception mission, the decoy drone first imitates a manned aircraft to perform tactical flights over the forward position, stimulating or inducing the radar in the enemy's air defense weapon system to turn on, and then our own reconnaissance equipment takes the opportunity to complete the reconnaissance mission. When used as a penetration tool, UAVs arrive at the target area protected by the enemy's air defense system from the side before one's own attack aircraft group, confuse the enemy's radar and consume the enemy's air defense weapons. These UAVs are highly deceptive due to measures such as increasing the radar reflection cross-section and signal strength. The enemy's radar will first intercept these false targets, but it will be difficult to identify them, causing these erroneous intelligence to be transmitted to the enemy's fire control radar system and air defense weapons. In this way, on the one hand, the enemy's air defense radar network can spend a lot of time dealing with these false targets; on the other hand, the enemy's weapon system will fire on them or launch missiles, consuming air defense firepower, thus reducing the threat to our own attack aircraft. It turns out that decoy drones have played a very important role in several local wars. For example, in the Fourth Middle East War in 1973, Israel used American "Partridge" small drones as decoys to deceive enemy air defense firepower and cover its own aircraft attacks. According to reports, a drone once induced 32 SAM missiles to be launched at it. Subsequently, the Israeli F-4 fighter jets and A-4 attack aircraft followed closely and successfully completed the attack mission on the Egyptian position.
Implement interference
The system interferes, causing communication interruption and command failure.
The current development trend is to interfere with radar and communication at the same time. Because it is impossible to completely interfere with all the radars in the enemy area, the target information obtained by the radars that are not suppressed by interference can be transmitted to the jammed radar positions through communication lines. Therefore, only by interfering with the radar and also interfering with the communication system can the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery and missile positions be unable to obtain the required intelligence information. To this end, a UAV can be equipped with two or more jamming devices at the same time, which can be used flexibly according to needs; it can also be used as a interference between two or more UAVs with different purposes or between UAVs and electronic warfare aircraft. Fight collaboratively. The "Monarch" system developed by the United Kingdom is a comprehensive system that uses multiple drones, carrying electronic reconnaissance equipment, radar interference equipment and communication interference equipment, to fly over enemy positions to perform electronic warfare missions. In optoelectronic countermeasures, the potential of UAVs is also very eye-catching. It can be equipped with smoke devices to disrupt the enemy's attack of photoelectric guided weapons; it can also be equipped with flash lamps as infrared bait to deflect the enemy's infrared Guided weapons; you can also use its flexibility and long airborne characteristics to accurately drop the tracer bullets you carry at the required location.
Ground attack
As an aerial vehicle, UAVs can also carry a variety of ground attack weapons and fly to the front line or deep into enemy-occupied areas to attack ground military forces. It can use air-to-surface missiles or bombs to suppress enemy air defense weapons; use anti-tank missiles to attack tanks or tank groups; use cluster bombs and other weapons to bomb ground troop assembly points. Of particular note are the anti-radiation attack drones. This is a weapon system that uses electromagnetic wave signals radiated by enemy radars to discover, track, and ultimately destroy the radars. It can not only be used to attack enemy radars, jammers and other radiation sources, but also can be used to attack enemy early warning aircraft and special electronic jamming aircraft after high-speed anti-radiation drones are equipped with composite guidance devices and other equipment. The American "Brave" 200 and the German KDAR are anti-radar drones. KDAR adopts a tailless, cross-shaped wing layout. The wings can also be folded and placed in a standard container of 6.1 cubic meters. The container serves as both a storage and transport package and a launcher, with each container holding 20 KDAR drones.
Fire calibration function
Mainly used for fire guidance and evaluation of firing effects. The "Goshawk" produced by the American Lockheed Company is such a drone. It is equipped with a rangefinder. Automatic tracking TV cameras, laser designators and thermal imagers can transmit position correction instructions to the ground through anti-jamming data links, and can indicate targets for Copperhead laser-guided artillery shells and airborne Hellfire anti-tank missiles.
Communication relay
For example, the American "Pioneer" drone is equipped with anti-interference spread spectrum communication equipment, high-power solid-state amplifier, omnidirectional VHF and UHF Radio station relay equipment, etc., can carry out data, signal, voice and image communication in the C-band, with a communication distance of 185 kilometers. In addition to the above seven functions, drones also have special features that other aircraft do not have. First, the cost is low. Drones typically cost between tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Compared with manned aircraft, the price gap is very different, equivalent to 1/100 to 1/1000 of manned aircraft. UAV operators only need half a year of regular training, while training a manned aircraft pilot requires more than four years of specialized training, which is costly. When UAVs perform the same tasks as manned aircraft, they consume very little fuel, usually occupying only 1 of the space occupied by manned aircraft. Second, it has good concealment and strong survivability. The length of a drone is basically within 10 meters, and its weight is mostly between 1 and 2 tons; therefore, it moves very easily and freely in the air, making it difficult for various detection equipment to detect its whereabouts. Third, it is easy to use and has good adaptability. UAVs can either glide into the air at short distances or be launched directly into the air; they can take off on roads, beaches, and deserts, so they can be widely used on the front line. The recovery of the drone is also very convenient. It can be recovered by parachute and arresting net, or it can be landed by landing gear, skid or belly.
For example, Canada's CL-227 "Sentinel" UAV can also take off and land vertically like a helicopter. In addition, UAVs can adapt to various environments, can enter and exit areas contaminated by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons without any scruples, and can fly continuously under various complex weather conditions.