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Kub-UAV guided munition

"Cube" was developed by ZALA AERO (part of the Kalashnikov concern). The new strike complex KUB-BLA is designed to destroy remote ground targets. KUB-UAV delivers a special payload at target coordinates, which are set manually or from an image from a target guidance payload. Advantages are high accuracy, hidden launch, noiselessness, and ease of use The KUB-BLA strike complex has successfully passed state tests. The ZALA AERO group of companies is a leading Russian developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems, unique target loads and other technical means that ensure their use. Since January 2015, the ZALA AERO group of companies has been part of the Kalashnikov Concern JSC.

The device has a characteristic shape due to the wide delta wing. It is driven by a propeller that turns an electric motor. The drone carries a warhead weighing three kilograms. The maximum flight duration is 30 minutes, the speed is 130 kilometers per hour. The drone is guided by the video image from the camera and has high accuracy and ease of control. State tests "Cuba" were completed at the end of 2021.

Loitering ammunition (also known as suicide drone or kamikaze drone) is a category of weapon system in which ammunition loiters around a target area for a while searches for targets and attacks as soon as the target is located. Loitering munitions allow quicker responses to covert or covert targets that appear for short periods without placing valuable platforms close to the target area, and also allows for more selective targeting as the actual attack mission can be aborted.

Loitering munitions occupy a niche between cruise missiles and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UAVs), which share characteristics with both. They differ from cruise missiles in that they are designed to stay in the kill zone for a relatively long time, and from unmanned aerial vehicles in that loitering munitions are designed to be used in an attack and have a built-in warhead.

Initially loitering munitions were not referred to as such. Various sources point to different designs as the origin of the weapon category. In the early 1980s the original Israeli Delilah variants or the failed US AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow program are mentioned by some sources. Alternatively, the IAI Harpy, which was widely exported in the late 1980s, is regarded by some as the first loitering ammunition system.

Systems with unmanned carriers of guided munitions are currently one of the most promising areas in the development of unmanned aerial systems. The KUB-BLA high-precision strike unmanned aerial vehicle is designed to engage remote ground targets. It delivers a special payload at target coordinates, which are set manually or from an image from a target guidance payload. The new strike complex KUB-BLA is designed to destroy remote ground targets. KUB-UAV delivers a special payload at target coordinates, which are set manually or from an image from a target guidance payload.

It has a characteristic shape due to the wide delta wing, driven by a propeller that rotates an electric motor. The drone carries a warhead weighing three kilograms. The maximum duration of its flight is 30 minutes, the speed is 130 kilometers per hour. The drone is guided by the video image from the camera, has high accuracy, can be launched covertly, is almost silent and easy to control.

The launch of the "Cube-UAV" is carried out using a catapult. The drone can be used as part of a swarm. Its advantages are low noise, small size and a high degree of autonomy, achieved through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The disadvantages of the UAV include its limited ability to work with moving targets.

The KUB-BLA strike complex has successfully passed the tests. Within the framework of the IDEX-2019 International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment in Abu Dhabi, the Kalashnikov Concern (part of Rostec) presented a new intelligent weapon - the KUB-BLA high-precision unmanned strike system.

"This complex is a step towards a completely new warfare. We confidently keep in the forefront among the countries producing such weapons, - said Sergey Chemezov, General Director of Rostec. - A high-precision unmanned projectile flies for up to 30 minutes at a speed of 130 km per hour. The charge on this complex is delivered to the target, regardless of its stealth and terrain - both at low and high altitudes. This is a very accurate and extremely effective weapon, which is very difficult to fight with traditional air defense systems."

The advantages of the complex are hidden launch, high accuracy of the shot, noiselessness and ease of handling."KUB-BLA" is designed to destroy remote ground targets. The unmanned aerial vehicle delivers a special load on the target coordinates, which are set manually, or on the image from the target load of guidance.

As part of the ARMY-2021 forum, ZALA specialists demonstrated a modification of the KUB-BLA high-precision loitering munition, designed to be launched and used on water bodies. The updated version has an increased range of application, as well as the ability to complete missions as part of a slave swarm. This update allows the use of an unmanned complex as part of a slave swarm. The device can be operated on high-speed transport-landing boats and special-purpose ships.

The fact that KUB drones successfully passed state tests was reported to RIA Novosti in December 2021 by a source close to the Ministry of Defense. He said that serial deliveries to the troops were scheduled for 2022. But the development of the KUB-BLAH line will not end there. Experts see the need to adapt the drone for their operation on high-speed transport landing craft and special purpose ships. And they are already working on it. The possibility of maritime application can be implemented for reconnaissance and attack unmanned aerial vehicles.

The strike unmanned complex has successfully passed the tests and is ready for use. Unmanned aerial vehicles with KUB loitering ammunition have successfully passed state tests and are recommended for adoption by the Russian army, said Vladimir Lepin, general director of the Kalashnikov concern. "At the end of 2021, the state tests of the KUB-BLA were successfully passed, the loitering ammunition was recommended for adoption," he said in an interview with the National Defense magazine in August 2022.

Lepin called the main tasks of the ammunition the destruction of enemy manpower, inflicting maximum damage to infrastructure, and defeating lightly armored vehicles. "Our UAV specialists are working on solving these problems. For the first time, we introduced the KUB-BLA guided munition system in 2019, and over the past two years we have completed a series of tests and trial operation," said the general director of Kalashnikov.

The Russian Ministry of Defense on 18 May 2022 published a video of the destruction of American M777 howitzers and Ukrainian artillery crew by a Kub kamikaze drone. According to Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, the Russian military attacked American howitzers near the village of Podgornoye. The location of the howitzers was determined thanks to the calculations of drones and artillery reconnaissance equipment. The footage shows a battery of two 155mm howitzers and crews preparing the guns for combat. At this moment, the "Cube" dives and explodes between two howitzers. The video also shows the spread of fragments that hit personnel and guns. "All equipment and American howitzers were destroyed. The surviving Ukrainian artillerymen fled." In candor, the explosion was not terribly large, the equipment seemed intact, and no decisive results were in evidence. Given the distance of the impact and weak explosive payload it caused minor damage at best.

The Russian military launched a missile attack on the equipment, damaging several guns. After the drone attack, the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to hide with their howitzers in the forest. As soon as the Ukrainian militants concentrated tractors and guns in the forest, an artillery strike was launched there.

ZALA Aero (also called A-Level Aerosystems) is a company specialising in unmanned aerial vehicle development, located in Izhevsk, Russia. The ZALA AERO group of companies is a leading Russian developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems, unique payloads and mobile complexes. Since January 2015, the ZALA AERO group of companies has been part of Kalashnikov Concern JSC.

The main products of the company are unmanned systems and software solutions for aviation monitoring. Currently, more than 2,000 ZALA unmanned systems are used in Russia to protect state borders, conduct reconnaissance and rescue operations, monitor oil and gas infrastructure, survey high-risk facilities and emergency sites. ZALA AERO is a leading Russian provider of aerial monitoring services for the oil and gas industry. On an annual basis, ZALA AERO unmanned aerial systems inspect more than 5 million kilometers of pipelines and related infrastructure, performing more than 30,000 flights.

Potential customers criticized the Cube due to the imperfection of the on-board electronics and operator panel.