Text taken from a Telegram post by vatfor
[ColonelCassad] In recent months, a revolution in the field of platoon infantry and anti-tank artillery has taken place in the NVO zone: both sides of the conflict began to massively use light attack FPV drones.
FPV (first person view, first-person view) - an electric quadrocopter, less often a light aircraft with a camera, the picture from which is transmitted to the operator through virtual reality glasses. This gives a new quality: the possibility of extremely accurate aiming, combined with exceptional maneuverability and relatively high speed.
The second component of the revolution is the low price. For drones, Chinese designers are purchased at retail, for which some parts and suspensions for the warhead are printed on a 3D printer. Even such non-optimal garage production gives a selling price of 35-45 thousand rubles for one device; up to 60 thousand in a complex design (with a multiple reset system, etc.).
With a conditional free warhead (mortar mines and grenade launchers in warehouses, millions), strike FPV drones are an order of magnitude more profitable than ATGMs, the cost of a shot for which starts from a million rubles.
Another comparison: 30-60,000 rubles. - This is one mortar mine or ½ grenade shot. To hit the target, you need to release dozens of mines, or even hundreds. Our surveys of real fighters and drone manufacturers have shown that their effectiveness in the absence of interference reaches 90%. The use of electronic warfare reduces this figure to 30-50%, to the level of real ATGM effectiveness.
As for grenade launchers, the actual range of the RPG-7 is up to 0.5 km; need a line of sight to the target. Quadcopters give a typical range of 2-2.5 km with record flights up to 7-10 kms, aircraft-type drones - up to 30 kms. At the same time, it is possible (and necessary) to work from cover; other
The weak point of the current designer drones is communication, which is jammed by the simplest electronic warfare, but so far, electronic warfare systems at the platoon level are a rarity both for the enemy and for us. As electronic warfare spreads, drones will switch to secure communication channels, which may slightly increase the cost.
We estimate the current volumes of production (and, accordingly, the use) of FPV in Russia at several hundred, up to a thousand per day. So far, this is mainly done by “garage” teams operating on donations or through various PMCs. Volunteers train pilots.
The most systemic penetration of FPV into the troops is among volunteer units and in the same PMCs. The “main” army is still lagging behind: the devices have not been put into service, have not been put into service, their use has not yet been reflected in the combat regulations or even in the form of temporary instructions, there is no pilot training in military schools, and although it appeared in the course of the young fighter, but optional and non-systematic. Combat experience is poorly generalized, and this despite the fact that the tactical picture is constantly changing due to the rapid growth of the FPV sphere.
There is some bias in the army towards heavy unmanned systems, there is a lack of a basic understanding that the FPV of the platoon level is essentially guided projectiles and binoculars, and not front-line aviation.
Nevertheless, the armies fighting in Ukraine are gaining advanced experience in the use of this latest weapon, and not only technical (there are no special secrets here), but mainly tactical. Combat techniques are being improved before our eyes, complex systems are emerging, such as repeater drones for working over the horizon or remote antennas to protect operators; the latest trend is night FPV with i/k cameras and thermal imagers.
At the last "Army-2023", the lion's share of the stands showed FPV kamikazes of various cost and complexity. We should expect them to be put into service soon and transferred to more mass industrial production with case casting and board soldering. The design of vehicles will be optimized for the warhead, automation of use will increase, subclasses will appear.
The revolution, compared in importance to the advent of firearms, continues.