Russian UAV 'outmatched' by a Ukrainian stork

SKĐS - A video recently circulating on social media shows a Russian drone chasing a white stork in the skies over Ukraine.

With a sudden mid-air maneuver, the stork caused the UAV to miss its target. This brief but impressive moment not only delighted viewers but also highlighted the significant gap between modern UAV technology and the natural flight capabilities that birds have perfected over millions of years of evolution.

The confrontation between birds and UAVs.

Conflicts between birds and UAVs are actually nothing new. From the early days of UAVs becoming widespread, many species of birds of prey viewed them as foreign objects invading their territory and actively attacked them.

Many UAV operators have witnessed their devices being snatched in mid-air by eagles, hawks, or falcons. Some of these incidents have even been filmed and widely shared on social media.

Because of their natural hunting abilities, some security forces have tried using them as "anti-UAV weapons." The most famous example is a 2016 Dutch program in which eagles were trained to catch UAVs in the sky. The French military and several other countries have also conducted similar tests.

However, these projects were quickly canceled. Although birds are highly maneuverable, they still risk serious injury from collisions with the high-speed rotating propellers of UAVs.

A prime example is in Ukraine, where a wild falcon, later named "Shriek," had its wing broken off while attacking a Russian UAV.

When a UAV mistakes a bird for its target.

Today, the opposite situation is becoming increasingly common: UAVs hunting birds. This is because, on radar screens, large birds sometimes have characteristics similar to UAVs. They both fly at altitudes of hundreds of meters, have relatively small radar cross-sections, and move across the sky along unpredictable trajectories.

The white stork is a prime example; with a wingspan that can exceed 3 meters, it's even larger than Russia's Shahed (Geran) UAV.

Although the actual flight speed of the stork is only about 50 km/h, much lower than the over 180 km/h of the Geran-2 UAV, its horizontal movement speed in certain favorable wind conditions can cause it to be mistakenly detected by detection systems.

Most air defense radars automatically discard small, slow-flying targets, mistaking them for birds. Only modern radars can analyze the microscopic signals from rotating propellers to accurately distinguish UAVs from birds. Therefore, misidentification of targets still occurs.

Previously, a video surfaced showing a Russian FPV drone crashing into a large bird. Initially, many believed it was a stork, but it was later identified as a Dalmatian pelican. In the case of the Ukrainian stork this time, the animal detected the danger in time and successfully dodged it.

Why are birds still more maneuverable than UAVs?

The video illustrates a clear fact: despite increasingly sophisticated UAVs, they still cannot match the flight capabilities of birds. Birds can change the shape of their wings almost instantaneously. They can spread their wings wide to increase lift, fold them to reduce drag, or change direction extremely quickly in a split second. These abilities allow them to perform sharp turns that most current UAVs struggle to keep up with.

Scientists have long tried to emulate that characteristic. Numerous projects to develop ornithopter-like aircraft have been undertaken, but results have been limited.

One of the few notable successes was the Nano Hummingbird UAV developed by AeroVironment in 2011. However, even this UAV model could only operate for about 11 minutes before having to land.

Another area of ​​research is variable-geometry wing technology, which allows UAVs to change the shape of their wings while flying, much like real birds. Despite its promising potential, this technology remains largely in the experimental stage.

Not only are birds more maneuverable, but they also surpass UAVs in long-range flight capabilities. A white stork can travel hundreds of kilometers between stops during migration. Their secret lies in their ability to utilize natural air currents. White storks often use rising columns of warm air to gain altitude with almost no flapping of their wings. Seagulls exploit the difference in wind speed between different layers of air to glide thousands of kilometers over the ocean with extremely low energy consumption.

Aerospace engineers are studying these mechanisms, hoping that one day UAVs will be able to make transatlantic flights without refueling. However, current technology is still a long way from matching the natural capabilities of birds.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/uav-nga-that-the-truc-mot-con-co-ukraine-169260527151935725.htm