Russia showed two jet versions of the Harpy attack drone, which is produced by the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol. In the first version, the jet engine was “fitted” into the body of a conventional piston-engine Harpy, while for the second, a separate design was already made for the new power plant.
Russia showed two jet versions of the Harpy attack drone, which is produced by the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol. In the first version, the jet engine was “fitted” into the body of a conventional piston-engine Harpy, while for the second, a separate design was already made for the new power plant.
Thisis reported by Militarny. New drones were featured in a story on the Russian NTV channel. The Telegram channel "Colonel of the General Staff" drew attention to the footage
Kupol, which has so far mass-produced mainly piston-powered Harpies-A1, is now effectively entering the same segment as Alabuga with its jet-powered Geraniums. However, the scale of production of the new Harpies is currently much smaller.
The exact characteristics of the jet version have not yet been disclosed. According to GUR, the regular Harpy-A1 accelerates to a maximum of 185 km/h and can fly up to 1,500 km. The jet-powered Gerani is much faster: depending on the version, its speed can reach 300–500 km/h.
However, technically, the Harpy is simpler than the Geranium. According to the Colonel of the General Staff, these drones do not have cameras or mesh modems, so they fly to a given point using inertial and satellite navigation, and some devices may have a laser sensor for aerial detonation. The new Harpy differs from the Geranium primarily in its origin. This is a separate line of the Kupol plant, while the main Geraniums are mass-produced by Alabuga.
Along with the drones, Russia also showed off a mobile launcher based on the KamAZ-5350 chassis, which can launch several drones at once. This allows for the dispersion of launch points and less dependence on stationary sites and airfields.
Previously, dev.ua wrote that Russia had already developed the Gerani jet in a similar way. In the Gerani-3, the jet engine was installed in the airframe of the conventional gasoline-powered Gerani-2, and for the next Gerani-4, a new body with better aerodynamics and a reinforced structure was created.
