MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is working to create attack drones capable of organizing into groups and coordinating between them via secure communication channels, Sergei Korotkov, the United Aircraft Corporation's general design engineer and Vice President for Innovation, told Interfax.
"Today simply using an aerial vehicle does not achieve objectives. Another matter is when it is in a network-centric communication both with ground centers and neighboring drones, working as one system. This is quite a challenging task that we and other countries are working on," Korotkov said.
To create such a "swarm" of drones, communication channels must be secured, he said.
"We need to resolve the issue of jamming resistance, crypto-protection, and all the rest. These drones could be stolen, and even re-targeted, which is yet more dangerous," Korotkov said.
There were known precedents of drone control being intercepted or entire UAV groups being split, he said.
"This should be gathered and dealt with, both we [UAC] and commercial organizations are working on this," Korotkov said.