Last week, Ukrainian analyst Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov shared images of a curious new Russian device: an FPV drone that carries a tracking camera and is attached to a bamboo frame. “Flash”, whose detailed technical wisdom has earned him more than 100,000 subscribers, has been to highlight vital new developments.
The trail cam drone looks odd, but this lashed-together combination can sit beside a track and covertly send back video of every vehicle that passes for weeks. Assembled from cheap commercial components, It is the sort of efficient, stealthy spy that U.S. forces used to dream of.
Unattended ground sensors, or SKUs, date back to the 1960s, when the United States sought to prevent traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the main route of origin for the Viet Cong. Seismic, magnetic and acoustic sensors from the 1960s, capable of detecting the movements of nearby people. vehicles, but the generation of a video device did not exist. Thousands of sensors, each the length of a fence post, have been included as a component of the Igloo Program targeting F-4 Phantoms, CH-3 helicopters and other aircraft.
The sensors either hung in the canopy or embedded themselves in the ground depending on type. About 80% worked after landing, and had a battery life of up some weeks. The sensors communicated with specially-equipped aircraft circling overhead. Picking up the successive pings as a vehicle passed a series of sensors.
The plane transmitted the data to a 20,000-square-foot data center in Thailand equipped with IBM 360/Model 65 computers, a model also used by NASA. The analysts learned the location, speed and direction of the vehicles and called for airstrikes to reach them. .
The attack aircraft arrived between 3 and five minutes after contact. The pilot never saw the target; They simply flew over the target domain and the plane’s computer automatically dropped bombs on the point the target intended to hit at its known speed.
“A major disadvantage of all ground sensors was that none of them were able to view the target or to transmit pinpoint locations to the attacking aircraft up to the moment of weapon release,” according to one report. “In order to overcome this shortcoming, large numbers of bombs were dropped on every suspected coordinate.”
Trucks damaged and destroyed on the Ho Chi Minh route, many Igloo White sensors impacted. . . [+]
Igloo White cost a billion dollars a year and was presented as a triumph of technological warfare. Its actual effectiveness was limited. The program suffered a loss of credibility when the Air Force claimed to have destroyed more trucks than the North Vietnamese possessed. And supplies, including artillery and tanks, were still reaching the Viet Cong.
Even with abundant support, the available sensors were simply not able to provide the required information. Modern military sensors are much more complex and global hype is catching up, if not surpassing them.
Modern trail cams started appearing in the 1980s with the advent of motion sensors that could trip a camera shutter. These were film cameras, but provided hunters and researchers a means to see exactly what animals were using a trail and when. They were soon followed by infra-red versions for night sensing. These gave an unprecedented capability to see what wildlife was using a given area.
Trail cams with infra-red illumination provide a means to track nocturnal wildlife like this … [+] hedgehog
Digital cameras have remodeled surveillance cameras, storing thousands of photographs as well as video clips. Soon they were supplied with WiFi, and through 2007, surveillance cameras may just send knowledge the cellular telephone network. Costs have fallen; For less than $200, you can now get a camera that will take pictures and videos, day or night, and send them directly to you. These are wonderful devices for locating out what wildlife lurks in your garden.
And, just as an affordable camera drone that you can see over the hill or around the corner becomes a useful military tool, so does a tracking camera compatible with a cell phone.
Cellphone modems have featured before in Russian drones, notably in some of the recent Shaheds which use Ukrainian SIMS. They are likely used to send back location data so the operators know which drones get through and which approaches are defended; in some cases they may also send back imagery of targets.
Personal cameras capture more photographs during the day, but the mid-night capability might be more useful.
Serhii Flash notes that on the trail cam drone, the antenna was not connected so the unit may not have worked. He also says that the bamboo structure is puzzling; it may have been meant to catch in the trees to the camera could look down from above, or it may be a stand so that the camera can see over grass or other vegetation. Trail cams positioned by hand are often strapped to tree trunks or fenceposts for elevation.
While the sensors of the 1960s required a relay aircraft and a pc center, the tracking camera delivered through drone uses the existing teletelephone infrastructure. It would be imaginable to jam all teletelephone signals in the fight zone, telephones are an a must-have piece of apparatus for troops on either sides and this may just turn out impractical. New technologies, such as the Starlink satellite communication sets used through either sides for drones and other systems, are quickly fitting more affordable and would most probably update cellular telephone connections if those are not available.
Full image of the Russian trailcam drone
Instead of providing approximate knowledge like Igloo White, the trail camera provides a symbol to identify and locate the target. Game cameras have been used to monitor vehicle traffic, so an unmodified camera would likely be commercially effective. They generally reach twenty meters, but some long-range models reach sixty meters. The lenses tend to be wide angle, so they may not capture much detail at this distance. The drone delivery formula allows the operator to locate a track or address and position the sensor accordingly. With smart location, a trail camera can also seamlessly monitor all activities.
And while the drone’s battery only lasts a few hours even when inactive, trail cams are designed to operate for weeks. Some have solar cells to operate indefinitely. The model seen here does not appear to have them, but even a day of information on enemy movements would more than justify the low cost of the operation.
Trail Cams can be used like Igloo White sensors, to prevent attacks on logistics vehicles using FPV drones. They could also be placed to monitor the effects of mines dropped by drones, so that immobilized vehicles can be destroyed and mined spaces cleared. They can monitor the trend of activity in enemy positions and note the number of troops coming and going, as well as when troop rotations occur.
Or it can simply be used defensively, placed in front of a position to stumble upon the technique of enemy troops seeking to infiltrate.
Surveillance cameras can be detected and removed without problems (the threat of booby traps can complicate this task), but they can be replaced temporarily.
As with other advances (drone-launched caltrops and flame-spewing “dragon drones” that ignite tree lines with thermite), the trail camera drone shows how aerial mobility via drones can be combined with other technologies to produce impressive results.
If Ukraine is not already using similar or more advanced versions of the same technology, they will soon.