American Hornet Drones Bypass Russian Electronic Warfare, Expert Says
Dmitry Kuzyakin said US-made Hornet drones used by Ukraine can bypass Russian electronic warfare by using optical odometry and machine vision instead of GPS or radio links.
American Hornet drones, also known as «Martian,» which are used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in frontline areas, are capable of bypassing Russian electronic warfare systems through optical odometry. Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer at the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, said this in an article for Izvestia.
According to him, the key feature of the Hornet is that the drone can operate without satellite navigation or radio communication, which are usually suppressed by electronic warfare systems. Kuzyakin claims that the drone navigates and searches for targets using machine vision.
The expert links the development of this technology to the experience of the Martian helicopter Ingenuity. He recalled that there are no navigation satellites on Mars, while signals from Earth arrive with a long delay, so the aircraft had to correct its flight independently based on images of the surface beneath it, without relying on a preloaded map.
Kuzyakin also said that the Hornet is capable of making a decision to strike without human involvement. In his assessment, this contradicts US law, which forced the developers to look for a way to move the project out from under direct US jurisdiction.
According to the author, the American company Swift Beat, which produces these drones, became part of the Estonian holding Volya Robotics. Kuzyakin believes that the use of Estonian jurisdiction allows the developers to legally avoid restrictions imposed by the US judicial system.