Sensational Revelations - Top Russian General Staff Expert Proves Drone Tech Came From Abroad
The drones that attacked a Russian military base in Syria were pre-programmed to fly and drop bombs. The Ministry of Defense reported the news today. According to the Ministry, militants acquired the technology from abroad. Here's the main statement of today's briefing.
Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense: "Today, at the National Defense Control Center, we're holding a briefing conducted by the head of the Russian General Staff's Office for UAV Development, Major General Novikov, Alexander Vladimirovich. Sir, please".
Alexander Novikov, head of General Staff's Office for UAV Development: Good afternoon. On the night of January 5th to 6th, 2018, Russia's Khmeimim Air Base was attacked by terrorists, who used unmanned aerial strike vehicles. In total, 13 aircraft-class drones attacked the Russian military base. Our aerial surveillance assets located all aerial targets at a safe distance from the air base.
7 drones were eliminated by the Pantsir antiaircraft system. 6 were landed in the set coordinates using the means of electronic warfare. 3 drones were destroyed upon an attempt to land due to the explosion of the bombs they carried.
It must be noted that the Russian Ministry of Defense is constantly monitoring the usage of all types of weapons and military equipment by the militants within the territory of Syria and developing the necessary countermeasures. This also applies to drones. As a countermeasure, the Khmeimim Air Base and the Naval Facility at Tartus have adopted multi-level systems that include detection equipment as well as offensive and defensive electronic warfare systems. They allowed us to repel the attack of the terrorists on the night of January 5th to 6th.
Until recently, terrorists used drones primarily for aerial reconnaissance purposes. Their assault capabilities were exploited only in isolated cases. Usually, these were DIY-drones assembled from parts available on the free market. In the middle of 2016, in order to conduct aerial reconnaissance and deliver attacks, terrorists began to use quadcopters of a foreign origin. It must be noted that the Syrian militants used to acquire new drone modifications in a matter of days after they appeared in the free market.
The drones used to deliver the strikes against a military installation of the Russian Federation on the night of January 5th to 6th were used for the first time. Experts of our Ministry have conducted a thorough assessment of their design and capabilities. They seem simple but require a lot of time to assemble as well as specialized knowledge in the fields of aerodynamics and radio-electronics. These drones could only be assembled with the necessary blueprints and a set of previously tested components. The components used to assemble such drones — engines, steering heads, and batteries — are freely available on the market. However, the assembly of a complete system requires complex engineering, specialized expertise, scientific knowledge in multiple fields, and practical experience in the assembly of these aircraft.
I'll give you several examples: the drones had internal combustion engines that are used in lawnmowers and mopeds. It's obvious that without the appropriate modifications, they cannot be installed into drones. Besides, for a drone to use weapons, it requires special software. In order to use the weapons effectively, it must have the precise coordinates of the target as well as take multiple parameters into account, including its altitude, speed, wind direction and wind speed, and many others.
Our study concludes that the electronic equipment installed on the drones was capable of controlling their automatic pre-programmed flight, and bomb release. It also included ECCM equipment in its flight control system. Besides, the pre-programmed coordinates were much more precise than the publicly available ones that one can acquire, for example, on the Internet. For a DIY-drone to acquire the required flight performance, certain calculations and tests must be conducted. The combat use of drones also requires certain training and knowledge.
The launch of the drones that attacked our bases in Syria was executed from a single location within a short period of time. Here you see the deciphered data from the captured drones, featuring their pre-programmed and actual flight routes as well as the coordinates for the intended bomb drop site. One drone had an installed camera and was used to control and adjust the delivered strikes. Bearing all that in mind, one must have made all the necessary engineering calculations that ensured the effectiveness of the drones.
The weapons carried by the drones are also worth noting. As you might see, these are IEDs that weigh approximately 400 grams. They are equipped with additional munitions in the form of ball-bearings, and have an effective range of 50 meters. Every drone carried 10 of these munitions. According to our study, the basic explosive used in the munitions was PETN, which is more powerful than hexogen. This explosive is produced in several locations, including the Shostka Chemical Reagents Plant in Ukraine. It cannot be manufactured in an improvised manner nor extracted from other munitions. Currently, we're conducting a special investigation to figure out the country of origin of the explosives.
The assessment of the drones and the way they were used allows us to make the following conclusions. First and foremost, these drones couldn't have been manufactured in an improvised manner. They were assembled and used by specialists trained in countries that manufacture and use the UAV systems. Secondly, the threat of terrorists using drones to carry out their attacks across the world requires appropriate countermeasures.
Thank you for your attention.
Igor Konashenkov: "Esteemed colleagues. To conclude our briefing we'd like to point out once again that one shouldn't let the primitive design of the drones distract them from the engineering solutions used by the manufacturers. The development of these deadly machines requires good knowledge of certain fields, practical skills, and UAV operating experience. The fact that the terrorists received the designs and software from abroad means that the threat is not limited to the territory of Syria. Similar drones could be used to carry out terrorist attacks in other countries and not just against military facilities.
In order to neutralize such threats, all interested parties must cooperate at the international level".
These were the main statements at today's briefing of the Ministry of Defense.