Drones have been around, in one form or another, for decades. Still, it’s only since the adoption of massive aircraft like the RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-1 Predator, and MQ-9 Reaper that they’ve flown to the forefront of modern warfare. Granted, the vast majority of drones used by militaries around the world are tiny compared to the aforementioned UAVs, and that’s also part of the problem. Small drones, like the ones used in Ukraine to drop munitions onto tanks, are much smaller than what the United States typically flies in combat.
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On the other side, Russia has employed Iranian-made drones that are similarly small, and the one thing smaller drones have in common is a limited range. Small quadcopters like the ones used to defend Ukraine from Russia are too far from most targets to be useful, but that’s changing. Historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, “War has always been the mother of invention,” and Ukraine is proving that to be true. To handle the limited range of its drones, Ukraine and other nations are developing flying aircraft carriers. These larger UAVs can carry a small number of drones well beyond what their limited ranges allow.
This type of drone mothership technology is becoming more commonplace in battlespaces across the globe. Ukraine developed its own solution, the Dovbush T10 drone, which is being used as a mothership capable of ferrying six first-person view (FPV) kamikaze quadcopters. Ukraine began using Dovbush T10s in 2022 for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) with a small ordnance package. They’ve since been repurposed, though they still function as a signal relay, extending the carried drone’s range even further.
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The Dovbush T10 drone
While the full capabilities of the T10 mothership configuration aren’t known, there are some details available about its base configuration. The T10 can fly up to 21.7 miles under its own power while carrying ordnance weighing up to 26.5 lbs. Each unit costs only around $12,000, making it an incredibly inexpensive mid-size drone that is launched from the back of a pickup truck. Now that it’s been modified to carry FPV kamikaze quadcopters, its capabilities aren’t as well known. Still, some information has leaked, including its backup navigation system that steps in when onboard GPS is jammed.
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Ukrainian “Dovbush” UAV carrying and releasing two FPV drones during tests.
The “Dovbush” UAV is reportedly capable of carrying up to six FPV drones at the same time.https://t.co/wSS1kfRo3i pic.twitter.com/9vZNVJBF1J
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) November 19, 2024
The six carried quadcopter drones are placed upside down, and after they’re deployed, they right themselves and make their way to a target. The T10 remains in the area after deploying its fleet of drones to provide battle damage assessment (BDA) and also to extend the signal range to the target area. This enables operators to fix targets, make adjustments, approach from new vectors, and more. It’s unclear if the T10 deploys a specific type of quadcopter, though there is information available regarding Ukraine’s most-used kamikaze drones.
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Each quadcopter has a range of only three miles, but once affixed to a T10, the military drones’ range is extended. FPV drones are relatively inexpensive, costing only $800, so a fully loaded T10, minus munitions, costs around $16,500. They can fly up to 75 mph while carrying a 2.2-lb RKG-3M anti-tank grenade. This is more than enough to damage or destroy an armored vehicle, making the newly modified T10 and its carried drones a lethal combination.