Russia’s Cerberus Drone Swarm System is a revolutionary initiative that could greatly mitigate the jamming of aerial, ground, surface, and under-water drone. Thus, reducing the impact of electronic warfare and anti-drone warfare.
Introduction
At the same time, one can observe the precision and lethality of affordable asymmetric weapons such as the First Person View (FPV) drones. For instance, the American BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile costs around 2 million USD and the Russian Kalibr cruise missile costs around 1 million USD. On the other hand, the Russian Lancet drone costs less than 35,000 USD and its striking is perhaps more cost-effective than the cruise missiles due to its minimal radar signature and smart warhead. The effectiveness of Lancet and Geran drones are manifold increased due to the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) provided by the Orlan aerial drone.
During the military operation, both sides have successfully employed aerial, ground, and surface unmanned vehicles or drones on a large scale. However, the defining moment of any military operation always remain the adaptability and improvisation on the battlefield that are fundamentally based on the lessons learned. Historically, battlefield improvisation is primarily a tactical decision-making that could have significant strategic effect. For instance, during the Second World War, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel used Flak-88, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun against the enemy armour quite successfully. This tactical level improvisation resulted in operational as well as strategic level victories.
The History of Wire-Guided Missiles
During the 1960s, the Warsaw Pact as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were working relentlessly to thwarting the perceived armoured Blitzkrieg in case of an armed conflict. From the lessons of the Second World War and the Korean War, the Eastern as well as Western military alliances focused their attention on developing anti-armour weapon systems.
During that time, the Soviet 9M14 Malyutka also known as AT-3 Swagger and the American M-47 Dragon wire-guided Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) were developed. At that time, the technology was limited and Semi-Active Command to Line of Sight (SACLOS) guidance was used. Later technologies used fire and forget systems, which heavily relied on active guidance; however, the wireless guidance systems are still prone towards jamming and sabotage.
Russia’s Battlefield Improvisation: Cerberus Drone Swarm System
To overcome the inherent dangers of disruption, interruption, and interception of unmanned drones due to the electronic warfare and the related jamming mechanism, Russia has resorted to battlefield improvisation. The main advantage of fiber-optic drones is their immunity and impervious nature to electronic jammers.
Russia has developed and deployed a revolutionary system called the Cerberus. The latter is a fiber-optic wire-guided drone swarm system that is simple in its approach. The system is fitted on a truck chassis with housing for 6 to 12 aerial drones which are wire-guided by fiber-optic cable.
There are a number of advantages of using fiber-optic drones. It means clearer communications and sharper video footage. It also enhances greater data-transfer and greater bandwidth for rapid decision-making. Faster data transfer and larger quantity mean clear targeting. It is to be remembered here that drone operators heavily rely on video feed to identifying targets and destroying them. The fiber-optic drones could also employ advanced sensors, which can enhance situational awareness.
Drawbacks of Using Fiber-Optic FPV Drones
There are mainly three drawbacks of using fiber-optic wire-guided FPV drones. First, it reduces the operational range of such drones and resultantly limits the striking range. Second, due to the weight of the fiber-optic spool, the speed and manoeuvrability of the FPV drone could be reduced. Also, the weight could increase power consumption of Direct Current (DC) batteries. Third, the increased weight could result in a relatively small warhead, thus reducing the damage inflicted on the target.
Analysis and Conclusions
The battlefield in Ukraine presents the perfect picture of modern warfare where asymmetric weapons could readily overpower advanced weapon systems. Similarly, it would not be wrong to assume that the cost-effective or perhaps cheap weapons could overwhelm sophisticated and high-end weapons. This asymmetry is widening in the modern warfare.
In the ongoing Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine, both sides tend to destroy every legitimate target. However, targets such as command posts, logistics, and armoured vehicles, especially the main battle tanks, are the preferred and high-priority targets. To hit and destroy such high-value targets, the FPV drones are the perfect choice for military commanders. However, the modern electronic and electromagnetic warfare along with related jamming equipment made such ambitions dubious.
The wire-guided fiber-optic FPV drones are the practical solution to such operational problems and retain the potential in overcoming the jamming. In this regard, Russia’s Cerberus Drone Swarm System is a cost-effective and innovative initiative that could bring unprecedented results at the tactical level. Perhaps, that is why Carl von Clausewitz reminded us that the actual fighting takes place at the tactical level.
Muhammad Ali Baig – is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI), Pakistan. He is a Ph.D. candidate and a distinguished graduate of National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, Pakistan
