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Athlon Avia A1-CM Furia

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A1-CM Furia
Furia UAVs
Role Reconnaissance UAV
National origin Ukraine
Manufacturer Athlon Avia[1]
First flight 2014
Introduction 2020 [2]
Primary user Armed Forces of Ukraine

A1-CM Furia (Ukrainian: Фурія) — is a Ukrainian hand-launched, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for aerial reconnaissance.[3] It is controlled using a dedicated rectangular, guitar-case sized, portable station (displayed behind UAV in photo).

History

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It made its first flight in 2014 and was commissioned by the Air Guard of Ukraine in 2015[4] and Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2020. A1-CM Furia UAVs are used in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Capabilities

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According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, its latest modification, the A1-CMX, is able to correlate and pinpoint visual map data with GPS and GLONASS coordinates in realtime, and can reliably beam a laser target designator up to 7km away onto an area of 2x2m - even in harsh weather conditions. The CMX version was dubbed a new "Wunderwaffe" in the fight against Russia due to its ability to give final guidance correction to the M982 Excalibur artillery shells.

Design

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Analysis of destroyed versions that floated on Russian social-network VK at the end of August 2023 showed custom FPGA and NVIDIA chips on tailor-made motherboards and daughterboards, expensive industrial grade ball-bearings, multiple 830/905nm laser range finders and laser designators as well as precision electric motors and stepper-motors from Northrop Grumman Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., L-3 Technologies, and ABB.

Features included multi-band long-range digital radio, backup gyroscopes, designated chipsets for satellite reception and a secondary high-resolution IR camera. Almost all electronic parts were enclosed in individual hardened shock-proof casings with Mu-metal EMI and RFI shielding. Members of the Russian hacker-group Killnet commented that they were "severely impressed" and attributed "high quality" and "an obvious technological advantage".[citation needed]

The A1-CMX is claimed to have assisted in precision strikes to destroy over 43 Russian tanks and 181 assorted armored and support vehicles during the first half of the Counter-Offensive in the Robotyne region alone. It was described by General Yevhen Moisiuk as an "absolute game changer“ that "leads to spotted targets getting destroyed in under 15minutes at a 95% probability“.[citation needed]

Characteristic A1-CM A1-CMX
Introduced 2014 Early 2023
Type Fixed Wing UAV Fixed Wing UAV
Tasks Reconnaissance Reconnaissance
Artillery Correction Artillery Correction
Precision Strike Guidance
Takeoff mass 5.5 kg 6kg
The maximum radius of interaction < 50 km < 55 km
Flight range up to 200 km up to 220km
Power unit Electric motor Electric motor
Feeding 2x 42000mAh Li-ion 2x 48000mAh & 1x 4000mAh Li-ion
Flight duration up to 3 hours up to 3 hours
Maximum speed 130 km/h 140 km/h
Cruise speed 65 km/h 70 km/h
Payload HighRes Camera Ultra-HighRes Camera
Secondary HighRes IR Camera
830nm Laser Distance Measurement
905nm Laser Target Designator
Target Resolution 20m <2m
Satellite Navigation GPS GPS & GLONASS
Target Tracking Yes Yes
AI Target Identification No Yes
GPU Chipset Unknown NVIDIA Jetson
Notable Features Space for additional modular payload Huge amount of high-end western components, tailor made custom PCB‘s.
Estimated Unit Cost 25.000,- USD >70.000,- USD
Units produced 400+ Unknown

References

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  1. ^ "Athlon Avia".
  2. ^ «Фурія» прийнятий на озброєння Збройних Сил України. 10.04.2020, «Український мілітарний портал» (in Ukrainian)
  3. ^ "Артилеристи в зоні АТО використовують безпілотник для стрільби по бойовиках" (in Ukrainian). Лівий берег. 3 August 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Нацгвардія отримала нові безпілотники". Archived from the original on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2015-07-22.