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Grom Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The Grom (Thunder) drone, presented for the first time at the Army-2020 forum, is designed to support the Su-35 and Su-57 fighters. The sttaic display model was, in candor, not overly convincing, as it lacked landing gear but was propped up on boxes. The foreign counterparts of Thunder are the American XQ-58 Valkyrie UAV, which is being developed by the American company Kratos, as well as the Loyal Wingman UAV, which is being created by the Australian division of Boeing. The version of the“ unmanned slave proposed by the Kronstadt company is somewhat superior in terms of weight and dimensions to the conceptually close foreign counterparts. However, in the future, variants of a different dimension may be implemented.

Nikolai Dolzhenkov, general designer of the aircraft development company Kronstadt, told RIA Novosti 24 August 2020 "Already today, the Ministry of Defense has an understanding that drones of this type should en masse enter service with the Aerospace Forces," Dolzhenkov stressed. As indicated on website exhibition "Army-2020", high-speed shock turbojet UAV "Thunder" is designed to work as a "slave" in the forward attacking echelon in cooperation with manned aircraft.

Major aviation and military technical exhibitions this year were either postponed (HELIRUSSIA 2020) or canceled altogether (International Engine Engineering Forum MFD-2020, Hydroaviasalon 2020). But the main event of the year in this area - "Army-2020" - took place despite the restrictions. Allegedly, the UAV "Thunder" was also shown, but there are no pictures on the network. On the plan of the exposition in Kubinka, there is the mark "Thunder-2" (not "Thunder"). Also "Lightning". The schematic contour of "Thunder-2" on the plan strongly resembles the Barracuda UAV. And this is the entire exposition of "Kronstadt".

The Thunder unmanned high-speed attack aircraft, which is presented for the first time at the Army-2020 forum, is capable of interacting with a manned aircraft. Sergei Bogatikov, General Director of Kronshtadt JSC, told the Zvezda TV channel about this. “This is the so-called follower. Three or four Thunder-type vehicles can and should be controlled from a manned aircraft,” he said.

Bogatikov also revealed the tasks to be solved by the newest drone. “The tactics of use are as follows: unmanned aircraft are moving ahead and solving the tasks of suppressing air defense systems, and they are getting away from the attack. That is, these devices are equipped with appropriate guided weapons,” he stressed.

Now this is a very fashionable trend in the development of unmanned aircraft for a similar purpose. Such works are carried out in the USA and European NATO countries. It is also known that the Russian UAV "Okhotnik-B" by the "Sukhoi" company was recently tested together with the 5th generation fighter Su-57. and here is a new development on this topic. It is noted that the new Thunder drone will ensure the opening and destruction of military air defense systems, as well as the defeat of ground, surface and coastal targets by guided high-precision ammunition, and will carry out reconnaissance missions.

As the recent events in Syria and Libya had shown, when the Turkish armed forces began to massively use attack drones, the presence of a UAV of this type can change the nature of hostilities and affect the results of the entire military campaign. Probably, this also became clear to our military, engineers and designers. Interestingly, in addition to purely shock missions, "Thunder" will be able to be controlled by combat aircraft. And this will significantly increase its combat effectiveness and increase the capabilities of the front-line aviation itself.

Such UAVs, in addition to reconnaissance tasks, can also be used for the tasks of opening the enemy's military and object air defense and to defeat the corresponding complexes. They can also be used to strike other high-priority targets located in the tactical and operational-tactical depth of the enemy's defense, including ground-based mobile and stationary targets, as well as surface and coastal targets.

The Grom will be capable of using a wide range of weapons, in particular the new Product 85 guided missile, as well as the KAB-250 and KAB-500 guided aerial bombs. The high-speed attack unmanned aerial vehicle "Thunder" will be capable of carrying X-38 guided air-to-surface missiles. According to the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation, the Kh-38 missile has a modular design and, depending on the combat mission, is equipped with one of four seeker heads. Its range reaches 70 km, and its flight speed is over 2 M. Several types of warheads have been developed for the missile, including high-explosive fragmentation and penetrating ones.

According to the company "Kronstadt", the shock capabilities of the drone "Thunder" are associated with the presence of four points of suspension - two under the wing consoles and two - inside the fuselage. According to official data, with a take-off weight of 7 tons, it will be able to deliver a payload weighing 1.3 tons at a distance of 800 km. Grom will also be able to use a wide range of weapons, in particular the new product 85 guided missile and the KAB-250 and KAB-500 guided bombs.

Grom will be able to control a swarm of 10 Molniya attack drones. Small-sized UAVs "Molniya" are intended for high-precision destruction of stationary and mobile ground targets, use as decoys to complicate the air situation, suppress enemy air defenses, create and control the breakthrough band of a strike group and promptly destroy suddenly detected air defense targets, provide group electronic warfare when performing tasks together with manned aircraft.

The Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) "Grom" will be able to control a swarm of 10 small-sized "Molniya" drones in reconnaissance and strike configurations with the ability to change tasks for each member of the group. This was reported to TASS 15 March 2021 by a representative of the Kronstadt JSC, which develops the Thunder.

"The returned ones are reconnaissance drones. Strike drones, as in the case of loitering ammunition, are kamikaze. The lightning bolts will constantly communicate with each other and the carrier drone," the Kronstadt spokesman said. According to him, "Lightning" is optimized for use as part of a swarm of drones. "Lightning has a constant data exchange between UAVs. It is possible to change tasks for each member of the flock. Transfer of leadership roles and interchangeability. At the same time, thanks to artificial intelligence, the task is performed by a group without constant communication with the carrier aircraft," the company said.