Russian company Red Line has unveiled a high-speed combat drone designed for intercepting enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The relevant development regarding the unveiling of the Vogan-9SP combat drone was confirmed by a company official to the state-owned agency TASS during the "Technologies of Detecting and Countering UAVs" conference, which is currently underway in St. Petersburg on July 1-2. The spokesperson specified that the quadcopter can reach speeds of approximately 200 km/h and operates alongside a radar station and a laser system that illuminates identified targets.
"The 'go' command is given and the drone, which stands in a holder at an angle of 45 degrees, takes off from a launcher, maximally approaches the target, and takes automatic direction from its own guidance systems in the last moments. It closes in on the target and detonates its payload in the drone’s front part," he explained.
He added that before destroying an enemy UAV, the Vogan must receive a specific command from an operator who decides based on the video feed from the drone's camera. "Its objective is to precisely intercept kamikaze drones that fly here not with good intentions," the company’s spokesman said.
The counter-drone system is currently in testing, and specialists are developing an enhanced quadcopter capable of exceeding speeds of 250 km/h.
The conference was organized by the RuDrones Unmanned Technology Competence Center and co-organized by the Vektor Research Institute, which is part of the Ruselectronics Holding Company within the state technology corporation Rostec.