The Russian Navy Has Been Missing One Critical Capability (Until Now)

Dave Majumdar

Security, Europe

Moscow is developing a new rotary wing unmanned aircraft for its ships.

The Russian Navy is developing a new rotary wing unmanned aircraft for its ships. The unmanned helicopter will be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) as well as targeting. The Russians have been somewhat lagging in the development of unmanned systems, which are increasingly becoming commonplace in most western militaries.

“An unmanned aerial system of the helicopter type—designed for reconnaissance and target designation—is being developed created for Russian naval aviation,” a Russian defense ministry spokesman told the Moscow-based TASS news agency.

There are no further details available about the Kremlin’s new project, but it could increase the organic ISR capabilities of Russian surface combatants in the same way as Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8B and its larger MQ-8C Firescout unmanned helicopters do for the United States Navy.

The MQ-8B version of the Firescout is deployed on the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship to provide long-range surveillance capabilities. Earlier this year in October, USS Coronado (LCS-4) deployed to the Pacific with two MQ-8B Firescouts onboard. The helicopters were equipped with the Telephonics AN/ZPY-4(V)1 radar, which can track up to 200 targets with its surface search. It can perform terrain mapping and other functions—affording the diminutive ships a significant reconnaissance capability. In the future, the MQ-8B will also carry mine-hunting equipment.