Sep 4, 2024
UAV Developer via Telegram
A post on Tuesday 3rd by Russian blogger UAV Developer reveals a new Ukrainian secret weapon: a drone bomb fuze with a laser sensor to measure the distance to a target.
“Anyone who has had a laser tape measure knows what I’m talking about,” says UAV Developer, noting that it can trigger the bomb at any desired stand-off from the target.
UAV Developer describes it as a simple device with no technological magic. But experience dating back to WWII shows just how effective this type of airburst weapon can be. And, he notes, Russia’s bureaucratic acquisition system prevents them getting anything similar.
Master Blasters
The Ukrainians have displayed a rare talent at creating new fuzes for old weapons. The most celebrated example is the Johnny or Jonik fuze fitted to Soviet-era PTM-3 anti-tank mines. The original fuze is a simple pressure switch which only works when tank track drives over it. The Johnny fuze adds a magnetometer and an accelerometer. The magnetometer will trigger the mine when a large metal object is close, so the mine will go off when tank tracks go either side of it without making contact. The accelerometer means that any attempt to move the mine sets if off.
Twitter/X analyst Roy has documented several other new fuzes associated with drone mines, with time delays and magnetic or other sensors. Drones plant these weapons on roads well behind enemy lines.
“Ukraine has been systematically mining Russian logistical routes up to 15km deep for months with various anti-vehicle mines,” Roy told me. “They do so at night with heavy drones, where they should be very effective at destroying light vehicles, until presumably cleared the next day.”
The laser fuze is a step up in sophistication. While it could be used for an off-route mine, it is a type associated with direct strikes on targets both in the air and on the ground, a variant of the classic proximity fuze.
The Most Secret Weapon
U.S, Navy
As a paper on U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command notes, the proximity fuze ranks with radar and the atomic bomb as one of the outstanding secret weapons of WWII. It was so secret that it could not be referred to by name but was instead called the VT or ‘Variable Time’ fuze to give a misleading idea of how it worked.
A shell which can sense the target and explode nearby is more effective than one which only explodes on contact. It is hard to hit a moving aerial targets, so a shell that explodes whenever it is within lethal range is a huge improvement. Against ground targets, a shell which explodes when it hits the dirt wastes most of its explosive force digging a crater, and most of the shrapnel is wasted. Airbursts that shower the ground below with fragments are far deadlier.
The original solution to this was the time delay fuze which detonated so many seconds after firing. This worked when a barrage was being fired and gunners had time to adjust the timing. For anti-aircraft fire it created a narrow zone where the time-delay airbursts went off and firing had to be judged exactly to catch the target in that window.
The proximity fuze solved the problem by emitting a radio pulse and detecting the return. A miniature radar rangefinder, it could be set to explode at a given distance from the target. Against aircraft it was considered to be at least four times as effective and was credited with saving thousands of lives in the Pacific theater by downing Japanese kamikazes
When proximity fuzes were later used on ground targets the effect was devastating. They proved notably effective at the Battle of the Bulge. Eisenhower was so impressed he worried what might have happened if the enemy had developed proximity ammunition first: “If the German had succeeded in perfecting and using these new weapons six months earlier than he did, our invasion of Europe would have proven exceedingly difficult, perhaps impossible.”
Radar proximity fuzes are still widely used, but they are expensive and complicated to manufacture. The U.S. Army’s M734A1 Multi-Option Fuze for Mortars fuze for 60mm mortar bombs costs $213 according to the Army’s ammunition budget. Ukrainian drone makers need something simpler they can make themselves.
Laser Weapon
Cheap, rugged solid-state lasers mean you can now get a laser measure for under $20 and Ukrainian engineers seem to have applied the same technology.
“An ATmega328 microcontroller, voltage booster, MOSFETs – everything is standard,” says UAV Developer. “What is worth paying attention to – the [Ukrainians] are absolutely right on the path of electrifying ammunition.”
He notes that the fuze also has a backup contact detonator in case the laser system fails.
This does not come as a complete surprise. Previously Ukrainian developers approached the Brave1 defense technology accelerator with plans for an airburst fuze for drone bombs. This weighs a couple of ounces, is compatible with a variety of grenades and other munitions, and can be set to explode at 6-10 feet above the ground. Crucially, it costs less than $40 and can be made in Ukraine. This device, or something similar may now be in production thanks to Brave1. Like the drones themselves, it is likely assembled by hand in small workshops from imported commercial components.
Meanwhile, UAV Developer notes in a second post, Russia does not have anything like the laser proximity fuze or the Johnny because the people running the procurement process are, he says, morons.
UAV Developer says he knows of at least four cases where people brought products similar to the Johnny fuze to the Russian Ministry of Defense but were rejected because the bureaucrats did not like complex electronic systems, however reliable.
“The difference between a moron and a non-moron is the lack of understanding of the essence of things around them and the lack of desire to understand them,” says UAV Developer. “All these programs and demonic transistors scare him.”
The result is that the Ukrainians have Johnny and “100-500 types of detonator” while Russians have “a stick with a toggle switch and happy idiots.”
He notes that some small independent Russian outfits like drone makers Ovod are capable of building advanced, effective systems, but UAV Developer despairs of the military establishment.
While the new Ukrainian device may not meet Pentagon standards for reliability, ruggedness and security, it provides a valuable new capability. These fuzes will make antipersonnel strikes by drone bombs and FPVs considerably more lethal. They are also likely to be used on the new interceptor drones to give a greatly improved chance of a kill. And Ukrainian engineers will be working on the next project to leverage cheap, powerful, easily -available electronics.
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“…UAV Developer notes in a second post, Russia does not have anything like the laser proximity fuze or the Johnny because the people running the procurement process are, he says, morons.”
Of course, they have plenty of morons. However, so do we.
“While the new Ukrainian device may not meet Pentagon standards for reliability, ruggedness and security, it provides a valuable new capability.”
And the price tag is much too low for anything the Pentagon would want to buy.
Leave it up to the Ukrainians – again – to come up with a good solution to a certain problem. They could easily build effective cruise missiles, too, especially if certain jellyfish were to help them in this regard … if they are too chicken to send them some including permission to use them as they should be.