Kirill Grishin
The unobtrusive co-mbat drone, surpr-isingly, has very no-ticeable flaws. They could probably be called convex. If the device was gi-ven to touch. Chinese en-gineers studied the Amer-ican drone from a photograph. With smart software.
We looked at the photo – and everything became clear: not bad, but not a masterpiece. The newest aircraft has a lot of defects. It was the Chinese who saw a “long road” in mass production and a potentially “dangerous meeting” in the American drone. Obviously, with the ground or with enemy ammunition.
Found critical limitations of the tactical and technical characteristics of the developed American unobtrusive combat drone XQ-58A. They studied photographs of the device, information on the Internet, and also used a clever reverse-engineering program, according to the South China Morning Post. The Chinese suggested that this experimental device in its current form is not suitable for air combat. And when rotated 180 degrees, the drone can withstand resistance only 1.7 times the force of gravity. This is five times less than necessary. In general, it risks falling apart.
The XQ-58A is a reusable jet drone with a relatively low cost that allows for inevitable losses. It develops a speed of up to 1050 km / h and can carry up to 250 kilograms of payload. As planned by the Pentagon, the drones will assist F-22 and F-35 fighters in their combat or observation missions. With the help of stealth technology, they are able to attack targets in mainland China or deploy drones on small islands or ships near Taiwan.
All this is critically imp-ortant, because until recently these vehicles were the X-factor in a possible conflict between China and the United States. The gap has now been filled. And the Chinese, through a local newspaper, pointed out to their geopolitical opponent some of the shortcomings. This gesture, by the way, may well be viewed from a position of strength: they say, look, we will even give you a hint, we are not at all afraid of you.
The Russian military is likely to closely study the products of competitors, but even if they find inaccuracies and defects in the projects, they prefer not to publicly disclose this. This is military-industrial competition. In Russia, a similar concept of interaction between unmanned aerial vehicles is being practiced in the Grom UAV. This device with a take-off weight of 7 tons can control a swarm of ten Molniya drones launched from another carrier. The possibility of basing drones on Il-76 airplanes is being studied. Another advantage can be the option of returning to the aircraft. A plant for the production of these UAVs is being built in Dubna near Moscow. In general, thunder and lightning. Very poetic.
