Russian Bazooka Drones Debut In Ukraine

David Hambling Senior Contributor I'm a South London-based technology journalist, consultant and author
Sep 25, 2024,08:30am EDT

Updated Sep 26, 2024, 03:26am EDT

The multicopter drone carries an RPG rocket launcher angled downwards to attack targets below

Russian MoD via Twitter/X

Drones and rocket launchers make a good combination, as rockets provide a lot of firepower in a small package. Turning theory into practice is another matter though, and while we have seen many, many experimental models and prototypes, previously rocket-armed concept drones have been confined to arms shows and testing ranges.

That is now changing with the first reports of Russian drones with Bazooka-type RPG launchers seeing in action in Ukraine. They might look good, but are they effective, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

Real Rocket Science

Because they produce no recoil, and do not require a heavy barrel like traditional firearms, rockets bring lightweight firepower to mobile platforms. This goes right back to the use of floating rocket batteries on barges on the Napoleonic wars (and the War of 1812) as an alternative to ships with heavy artillery, through the rocket-armed, tank-busting fighters of WWII and into the modern age with helicopter gunships in Vietnam armed with pods of rockets.

WWII fighter firing aerial rockets

US Air Force

Rocket-armed helicopters are widely used in Ukraine in both sides, but the intensity of anti-aircraft fire means they are forced to carry out lofting attacks. This means lobbing volleys of rockets from long range rather than aiming at specific targets from visual range.

Multicopter drones can carry rifles and machineguns, but these need complex stabilization and aiming to be effective. Strapping a rocket launcher to a drone looks much easier, but accuracy is still an issue.

Back in 2016 I wrote about a Russian multicopter made by The United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation who showed off a video of their drone attacking targets with anti-tank rockets.

“The flying robots were designed to observe distant objects… and destroy enemy targets on the battlefield," says Sergey Skokov, Deputy CEO of UIMC stated in a press release.

However, a close look at the video suggested that the rockets were landing close to the target but not actually hitting it, which is quite damning in a demonstration video.

NAMMO demonstrated this commercial drone firing heir M72 anti-tank weapon

Nammo

Many others followed, including a 2018 Belarussian drone with an RPG-26 anti-tank rocket launcher and the Ukrainian Demon drone from the same year with an RPG-7 or RPG-22. In 2021 Nammo, the Norwegian manufacturers of the M72 Light Anti-armor Weapon, unveiled a downward-firing version mounted on a commercial drone which they had tested successfully.

In the current conflict we have seen a variety of improvised drone/rocket launcher arrangements on show, including a Ukrainian one seen in September 2022 with two downward-firing RPGs, A Ukrainian quadcopter with an RPG-18 and a Russian design with a similar recoilless weapon. Recently Wild Hornets tested their outsize Queen Hornet drone firing an RPG. There is a good summary of these efforts at the Armourers Workbench here.

What we have not seen are videos of drones with rockets destroying targets in action.

First Combat Use Claimed

A video posted by the Russian media MASH shows the test-firing of an RPG mounted at an angle on a drone. According to the caption, the stabilized drone can carry a 25-pound payload to a range of about 20 miles and has allegedly been used in action at Uhledar.

What advantage does rocket armament gives over other weapons?

The advantage in accuracy is questionable. Large multicopter drones like Ukraine’s feared Baba Yaga night bombers are extremely effective anti-tank platforms. They drop RPG warheads or purpose-made warheads, or even anti-tank mines, which can easily defeat the thin top armor. They typically carry several bombs, dropping them one at a time from a hover vertically above the target. If the first bomb misses, the operator adjusts their aim and scores a hit with the second or third.

Drone operators can now achieve impressive levels of accuracy, Dropping a grenade into an open vehicle hatch has become routine and is the standard method of demolishing abandoned Russian vehicles which cannot be captured.

Rocket launchers are reasonably accurate, but firing one from a drone will require some finesse to reach the levels of precision already attained by bombers.

Then there is the issue of weight. The current version of the M72 anti-tank rocket launcher weighs 7.5 pounds / 3.4 kilos. The rocket projectile itself weighs around 4 pounds / 1.8 kilos, and of this perhaps half or 2 pounds / 0.9 kilos is the warhead. So a drone could carry one M72 or RPG-26 (the near Russian equivalent), or four bombs each with the same striking power.

What the rockets do give though is stand-off distance. Tactical jammers have become commonplace, mainly as a defence against FPV drones, fitted to vehicles or placed next to trenches. These project a bubble of radio interference which will jam the communication of any drone getting within a hundred meters or so. The arms race of jammers versus drone communications is an ongoing one and systems are constantly upgraded to prevent them from becoming useless. The M72 has an effective range of 350 meters, so a rocket-firing drone can hit targets from outside jamming range.

The same logic seems to be behind the laser-guided bombs now carried by some Ukrainian bomber drones.

Greater range may also allow the drones to be used in daylight; approaching close to their targets, Ukraine's Baba Yaga bombers are flown almost exclusively at night.

Ukrainian experimental drone with two RPG launchers seen jn 2022. So far, these drones have stuck to ... [+]

Ukraine MoD

In addition, unlike Ukraine, Russia lacks skilled drone bomber pilots, having only recently started to deploy large multicopters. It may be easier to learn to use rocket launchers with the advantages they bring in terms of range.

Whether rocket-armed drones will be able to hit targets is another matter; this may be why we have not seen a rush to this approach on the Ukrainian side despite many tests. But if they prove effective, the concept will be rapidly copied and spread through the drone forces on both sides. Some versions may be improvised in the field, others will come from the hundreds of small companies now producing drones and drone munitions. The advanced versions may be fitted with smart aiming systems and other enhancements.

Drones with rocket launchers may be an evolutionary dead end, or they may be a significant step forward. If so, the rest of the world will have to consider the concept either as a capability to be acquired, or as a threat which will need to be countered.

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David Hambling

Author of 'Swarm Troopers: How small drones will conquer the world,' following cutting-edge military technology in general and the drone warfare

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Russian Bazooka Drones Debut In Ukraine (forbes.com)