Overview of Drone Ammunition: Currently, as an emerging air combat force, drones are increasingly embedded in the battlefield with their characteristics of zero casualties, non-contact, and long-range combat capabilities. Their tasks have also expanded from "observation" to "combat" or "integrated observation and combat.". In the Naqa conflict, the Azerbaijani army used drones to destroy a large amount of Armenian ground equipment, including main battle tanks, infantry tanks, howitzers, rocket launchers, field air defense systems, etc., helping the Azerbaijani army firmly occupy the offensive initiative and having a profound impact on the entire war process. In the conflict between Russia-Ukraine conflict, in addition to intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance operations, the video of multiple attacks launched by UAVs has attracted global attention after being released by social media. Why is the striking effect of a simple and low-cost drone so significant? What ammunition is used by drones? Which direction will drone ammunition develop in the future? Please refer to the interpretation in this issue. Russia's Kh-59MK2 standoff cruise missile. Information picture Türkiye's "MAM-C" micro ammunition. In recent years, military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have developed rapidly, and their functions have gradually expanded from battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance, communication relay to attack and strike integration, from being transformed from active ammunition to being customized. This functional change has spurred the development of drone ammunition. After the 9/11 attacks, the United States hopes to obtain an air to ground weapon that is compatible with drones for counter-terrorism operations. So, the US military modified the "Helfa" air-to-ground missile and successively launched models such as AGM-114P/P+/R for use in unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator and Reaper. In October 2001, on the battlefield in Afghanistan, the US military launched the "Helfa" missile using the "Predator" drone for the first time, destroying a tank and marking the beginning of drone attacks on the ground. In the following 20 years, with the increasing demand for providing close range air firepower support, suppressing enemy air defense systems, and striking key targets in depth, unmanned aerial vehicle ammunition received attention from multiple countries and developed rapidly. In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, Iran, Türkiye, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and other countries have also joined the R&D ranks. At the beginning, the vast majority of drone ammunition was converted from active ammunition. They are usually larger ammunition, with a single projectile weighing 45-250 kilograms, mainly used for carrying by large and medium-sized drones. Examples include the US AGM-114 series "Helfa" air-to-ground missiles, the UK's "Sulphur Stone" guided bombs, and Russia's KAB-50 series guided bombs. Among them, Russia's Kh-59MK2 standoff cruise missile weighs 770 kilograms. With the advantages of mature technology, low price, and large inventory, guided bombs have become the main air to ground strike weapons for large and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles. Their guidance methods mainly include relatively mature laser semi-active guidance and GPS/INS guidance, while the warhead is mainly armor piercing warhead. This type of ammunition has similar performance to the ammunition used by manned aerial vehicles, but with a different loading platform. Transforming existing models of ammunition into drone ammunition is cost-effective, has a short development cycle, and can be fast
Edit：Luo yu Responsible editor：Wang er dong
Source：81.cn
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