In total, the Polish manufacturer produces warheads of various types for UAVs – high-explosive fragmentation, cumulative fragmentation and thermobaric. GX-2 warheads, the largest in the series, weigh 4.8 kg and are capable of penetrating up to 800 mm of armor.
Military operations in Ukraine have proven how important unmanned systems, including small stray munitions, are on the modern battlefield. Polish defense company Belma SA, together with the Military Institute of Weapons Technology in Zelenka, has developed new warheads offering three types of stray ammunition. Defense 24 columnist Maciej Szopa talked about these weapons in more detail.
The material notes that these types of warheads differ in their purpose on the battlefield. For example, while multi-rotor platforms such as quadcopters are used in urban areas, aircraft-style drones are used for attacks in open areas. Aircraft types also vary in size. Larger vehicles have longer range and are capable of carrying larger warheads.
Depending on the warhead used, warheads are divided into three types: high-explosive fragmentation warheads, cumulative fragmentation warheads, and thermobaric warheads.
High explosive warheads (GO-1 HE – High Explosive) is designed to destroy targets with the kinetic energy and shock wave of fragments. Such warheads are used to destroy manpower, fortifications, armored and light armored vehicles.
HEAT fragmentation warhead (GK-1 HEAT – Hight Explosive Anti-Tank) is used to destroy tanks and other heavily armored vehicles. Here, a cumulative jet of the appropriate shape is responsible for penetrating the target’s armor with its kinetic energy.
Thermobaric warheads (GTB-1 FAE – Fuel Air Explosive) is used to destroy personnel, shelters, fortifications and infrastructure in confined spaces. Such warheads contain an explosive material that provides high pressure at the moment of detonation.
The main factor here is the rapid increase in pressure and high temperature accompanying the explosion. This type of ammunition is also called vacuum weapons. This is because the explosion creates a vacuum that sucks all the oxygen from the source of the explosion, creating a partial vacuum. Thus, the target is first hit with a pressure surge that lasts longer than with conventional explosives.
Belma first developed the 1.4 kg GX-1 tactical warheads equipped with daylight cameras or thermal imagers. High explosive fragmentation versions (GO-1 HE) hit a target within a radius of 12-30 meters from the point of detonation. The anti-tank version of the GK-1 HEAT is capable of penetrating armor up to 180 mm thick, and the thermobaric GTB-1 FAE hits a target within a radius of 12 meters.
GX-1 DG, a smaller version of this ammunition, weighs 1.2 kg. They are cheaper because they do not use cameras or other sensors.
GX-2 warheads are the largest in the series and weigh 4.8 kg. In the high-explosive fragmentation version, they can hit targets within a radius of 30-50 m, in the anti-tank version they can penetrate armor steel thicker than 700-800 mm, and in the thermobaric version they can hit targets. Within a radius of 30-50 m.
Unlike the GX-1, the GX-2 warheads were not designed to be placed in the front of the aircraft, but inside, in the middle of the fuselage, and therefore have a cylindrical shape.
The latest development of the Polish company is the GX-4 weighing 1.6 kg. Like the smaller GX-1 DG, these are not equipped with cameras or other sensors. This allowed them to optimize their aerodynamics and develop more explosives, resulting in an increased ability to destroy targets. High-explosive fragmentation weapons hit targets within a radius of 30 m from the point of impact, thermobaric ones – within a radius of 20 m, and anti-tank weapons – penetrate steel armor up to 350-400 mm thick.
Important
The expert noted that all Belma SA ammunition is designed so that the operator can detonate it from the UAV flight control panel at any time.
“They can also fully report the status of their weapons to the system operator console. In this way, the fired ammunition can be returned and used again if the target is not detected, thus minimizing the risk of accidental hits and explosions.” In a random place,” Shopa concluded.
It was previously reported that the Russian army used a new Lancet stray munition produced by the Vostok Design Bureau company on the Ukrainian front. The developers claim that the new drone has become a cheap analogue of Zala’s Lancet UAV.
Source: Focus
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