On the morning of May 30, drones attacked Moscow and the Moscow region. The Russian authorities assure that casualties and destruction were avoided. However, attention is attracted by the strange shape of drones, which were recorded in the sky over the capital of the Russian Federation.

Writes about it Air force.

Russian President Putin said that the raid on Moscow was organized Kyiv allegedly in response to a Russian "strike on the headquarters of military intelligence of Ukraine."

Earlier, the strike on the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate, located in the Podolsky district of Kyiv, was not reported. However, on the afternoon of May 29, Russia launched a missile attack on the capital of Ukraine. According to Ukrainian authorities, all ballistic and cruise missiles were shot down, but debris in particular fell in the Podilskyi district.

What drones attacked Moscow

According to eyewitnesses, the southwestern part of Moscow was attacked by about three dozen drones. The Russian Defense Ministry assures that there were only eight of them. Moreover, five of them were allegedly shot down, three more lost control due to suppression by electronic warfare and deviated from their intended targets. Some of the drones hit residential high-rise buildings.

The agency says the attack was carried out by "aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles."

Indeed, numerous eyewitness videos show that the UAV looks like a small plane, but which for some reason flies "backwards".

This is the so-called aerodynamic model "duck", which is rarely used in modern UAVs.

"Ducks" have arrived

The main feature of aircraft and drones of the "duck" scheme is that small stabilizer wings (horizontal tail), which are usually located in the tail of the device behind large wings, are located in front. And behind here is an engine or propeller. Therefore, in flight it looks as if the aircraft is flying backwards.

But this scheme was used in the first aircraft created by the pioneers of aeronautics, for example, the Brazilian-French inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1906.

Over time, she lost popularity. As the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and UAV operator Ruslan (call sign "Engineer") explains to the Air Force Ukraine, the modern familiar form of aircraft arose because it is more controllable in flight. It is also more stable during takeoff and landing and during unpredictable winds.

Therefore, the tail, which actually interferes with the lift of the aircraft, but helps in its stabilization and control, was moved to the rear.

However, this is now spent on the resources of the aircraft, because the engine and propellers need to pull the additional weight of the tail stabilizers, and it is also necessary to increase the wing area on which this additional weight falls.

The "duck" is a larger optimal aerodynamic shape, the military man notes. "But this scheme is more capricious in control, and it can be controlled by more experienced pilots," says the "Engineer", "The design of the aircraft itself must be very, very careful, especially for the center of mass of the aircraft."

If the center of mass is shifted back or forth - the plane will crash, if there is any abnormal situation, then it will be much more difficult for the pilot to fix the plane, because he will not stabilize by himself.

That is why there used to be many accidents with the "duck", until modern electronics, avionics, autopilots and flight controllers appeared - with the help of them it became much easier to control such aircraft.

For long-distance flights, the "duck" form has several advantages.

It is more efficient because the aircraft itself is smaller and lighter with the same range and carrying capacity, it has a smaller engine and a quieter propeller, which allows it not to exceed the sound load.

A smaller wing area has less chance of appearing on Russian radar, and smaller dimensions generally increase the chances of slipping past air defenses, says "Engineer".

Why "ducks" are popular in military affairs

If in civil aviation the "duck" has significantly lost popularity for 100 years, then in military affairs this form of aircraft is common.

"The duck scheme is quite common in military affairs. Almost all air-to-air guided missiles are made according to this scheme. And anti-aircraft ground missiles as well. Why? Because they are more maneuverable and it is easier for them to hit the target," Yuriy Kasyanov, an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the head of an unmanned aerial vehicle company, told the BBC.

One of the reasons is because it allows you to place the engine behind the rocket or drone, and put special optics and guidance equipment in front.

Kasyanov notes that such UAVs that attacked Moscow could be controlled by an operator or fly offline, that is, along a predetermined route.

"The first option is unlikely, because then the operator would have to be somewhere on the roof of a house in Moscow. Most likely, 99% of these devices were controlled in autopilot mode."

Such a UAV is not particularly difficult to manufacture, but requires specialized skills at the design stage, says the expert. In particular, that is why drones-"ducks" are not a mass product and their use is the exception rather than the rule.

The main thing is to hit the target

Russian media noted that the drones that attacked Moscow are devices worth $ 30-200 thousand with a wingspan of four meters and a range of up to a thousand kilometers. It seems impossible to counteract them with electronic warfare, they can only be knocked down.

They have a gasoline engine and a not very powerful cumulative charge with a warhead of up to 2 kg.

"The warhead of such a drone, so that it reaches Moscow, is unlikely to exceed 10 kg," explains Yuri Kasyanov. "But the question is not the power of the warhead, but the accuracy of hitting a certain object."

For example, to hit Russia's latest S-300 anti-aircraft missile launcher, 1.5-2 kg of explosives are enough. The main thing is to hit the target.

Some Russian politicians and military experts have suggested that the drones were launched from the territory of the Russian Federation, not Ukraine. That is why they, it seems, managed to freely overcome the distance to the capital of Russia.

Yuri Kasyanov is skeptical about this. He is sure that the UAVs flew from the territory of Ukraine. First of all, because it is difficult to imagine the movement of such a large object with launchers across the border of the two states, which is now carefully guarded.

Russian authorities, he says, simply do not want to acknowledge the presence of long-range drones in Ukraine and the weakness of its own air defense system.

Which Ukrainian manufacturer produces this type of UAV, Yuriy Kasyanov, refused to speak, but pointed out one nuance.

"This attack has nothing to do with UKROBORONPROM, I know that. It does not produce drones of this type."

Anton Frolov, chief instructor and founder of the Kruk UAV operator training center, says that Ukrainian manufacturers are constantly experimenting with the shape and parameters of their drones.

"All types of unmanned aerial vehicles are used in Ukrainian weapons. Every month we create something new: new forms, new technologies, new communication frequencies," he says.

It is important that UAVs effectively perform the tasks assigned to them, the developer notes.

"What were the targets of these drones, I don't know for sure. Probably, there were certain military targets, but probably the enemy shot down part of the UAV, and some part "got lost" under the influence of electronic warfare and hit a residential building. – notes Yuriy Kasyanov. "It is clear that in this case we are talking more about the moral and psychological impact on the enemy."

The Ukrainian authorities have always denied attacking Russian territory.

We will remind, Putin commented on the massive attack of drones on Moscow and threatened peaceful Ukrainians with a "response".

Read also:

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  • Drone attack on Moscow and the region: everything that is known about strikes and destruction (photos, videos)
  • Drone attack on Moscow: what justification was found in the Russian State Duma