Russian mobile coastal defence might be paired with drones for target direction.

Russian mobile coastal missile systems Bal-E and Rubezh-ME may be equipped with drones for target direction, Georgy Antsev, director and chief designer of the St. Petersburg-based JSC Radar mms, told TASS on the sidelines of the Ninth International Maritime Defense Show (IMDS-2019) held in St. Petersburg on June 10-14.

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"The integration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with mobile coastal missile systems is the right decision, which has made it possible to significantly increase the range of detecting targets. Work in this direction is underway," Antsev said.

According to him, three drone variants for equipping the Bal-E and Rubezh-ME missile systems are being considered. "A helicopter-type drone may be used. Its maximum flight range is around 100-150 km. Later on, it will be possible to talk about the integration of a large-size drone, the use of which will make it possible to employ weapons at full range," Antsev went on to say.

He added that an UAV can be integrated with the export-oriented Rubezh-ME mobile coastal missile system and the Bal coastal missile system in the interest of the Russian Defense Ministry. "If we integrated the drone with the export-oriented Rubezh then we will also build it into the Bal system," Antsev explained.

Radar mms has already developed this kind of drone, which has passed nearly all tests now.

"The drone is equipped with unique radar with synthetic aperture. It is capable of detecting a ship at a distance of up to 50 km; a ground target - at a distance of up to 20-30 km. The drone is equipped with a TV camera; a thermal image camera; a gravimetrical sensor and a two-point magnetic anomaly detector. The drone has no foreign analogues in its weight category (up to 50 kg)," Antsev said.

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