Russian soldiers have found a novel way to get around their lack of heavy-lift drones: strapping four small drones to a frame to create a device known as “Vobla.” A wide variety of these unlikely contraptions have appeared in recent months, and they now carry supplies to the front. While inefficient, the improvised drones do provide much-needed capability. And they show how adaptable drone technology can be with a little imagination.
Answering Ukraine’s Heavy Bombers
Ukraine has made wide use of heavy multicopters carrying thirty pounds or more, with four, six or eight rotor blades. Some 2,000 are now in use for logistics, night bombing and minelaying missions. These are the feared Baba Yagas, and Russia has struggled to come up with an equivalent; they have even pressed captured Baba Yagas into service.
“There are several Russian domestic heavy quadcopter/multirotor equivalents undergoing testing and evaluation, but nothing so far that can be mass produced in sufficient numbers, “ Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian drones and adviser to both the CNA and CNAS thinktanks told me. “So Russian soldiers are cobbling together a substitute.”
Russia made more than a million FPV attack quadcopters last year; these are in plentiful supply on the front line so they are being pressed into service. The Vobla consists of four FPVs attached to a frame with an additional central controller to manage the setup. Quadcopters change speed and direction simply by altering the speed of specific rotors under direction of a flight controller. In the Vobla concept, each quadcopter takes the role of a rotor blade in a super-quadcopter.
(The name Vobla refers to a popular fish, eaten dried or salted – the connection with the drone is obscure).
The arrangement is inefficient, with the additional weight of the frame and complexity of control, but it can work. Open-source analyst Roy has collected Vobla imagery from Russian sources and tracked their evolution.
“The first crude wooden Voblas looked somewhat ridiculous,” Roy told me. “But the concept has persisted and many efficient aluminum frame versions have emerged.”
In one demonstration a Vobla carries an anti-tank mine weighing 10 kilos / 22 pounds several kilometres, but Roy does not think mines will be the main payload. Ukrainian forces do not seem to have reported attacks by weird-looking bombers.
“I believe forward resupply is the first priority for the Vobla,” says Roy. “Ukrainian FPVs prevent any vehicles from approaching within 18 kilometres of the front in some sectors, so resupply of frontline units is very difficult. “
The Ukrainians use heavy drones to get supplies to forward positions. A recent report by UK defence thinktank RUSI noted that in some places military cooks even prepare fresh food which is flown out to the front line. Voblas will be playing a similar role, though likely with more urgent payloads like drinking water and medical supplies which often run critically short. Russian logistics are increasingly interrupted by Ukrainian drone attacks. No wonder Russian soldiers are converting their own FPVs into transports to help them stay alive rather than launching them at the enemy.
Future Drones
Bendett says that the Vobla initiatives are very much a stopgap solution.
“Soldiers and volunteers themselves are turning to this Vobla design because they need such a heavy drone and can’t wait for the industry to test theirs,” Bendett told me. “It’s likely that the numbers of Russia’s own heavy quadcopters/multirotors delivered to the front will grow this year but unclear to what extent.”
He also notes that, in theory, the Russians could simply buy Chinese heavy agricultural/industrial multicopters off the shelf, as they buy other small drones like DJI Mavics. He says there could be a number of reasons why they have not done this.
“The primary one is likely the cost – these are more expensive purchases than getting FPV and quadcopter parts in bulk,” says Bendett.
Larger commercial multicopters are typically in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, and it looks as though the Russian bureaucracy imposes extra levels of control on them. Whereas FPVs are just a few hundred dollars and are easily obtainable.
“To put [a Vobla] together compared to purchasing a heavy agricultural hexarotor is a fraction of the cost,” says Bendett.
New Vobla designs are appearing all the time. Frames may be square, X- or H-shaped and batteries may be central or on the individual elements. At present there are a wide variety of configurations, but as with other drone types, there is likely to be a process of convergent evolution as the optimal designs are established.
“A few of the best designs will likely be settled on, and Voblas will likely increase in numbers and effectiveness,” says Roy.
While the existing Voblas all use four sub-drones, more ambitious versions carrying ever-greater loads are possible with more.
“There is no reason why six or eight quadcopters could not be used, and an example could emerge soon,” says Roy.
Larger sizes will get increasingly difficult to handle, but very large Vobla assemblies carrying heavy loads may appear.
Vobla Proliferation
Voblas may disappear when Russia does start mass producing its own heavy-lift drones. However, their success may inspire inventors in other parts of the world. At present, drone delivery is a relatively costly undertaking. With the Vobla approach, a developer with basic tools can build a delivery drone capable of carrying twenty pounds for less than the cost of a moped. This may be very appealing in parts of the world where roads are seasonal, or rough terrain makes ground transport slow and difficult and medical supplies cannot get through in time.
This is a portable technology. Just as cellphones are common even in parts of the world where there is no reliable water supply, garage-made Vobla drones could be a real benefit to remote communities. They will also be misused by smugglers and other bad actors who need heavy lift capacity on the cheap and without lkeaving a trail.
Necessity is the mother of invention. And this conflict is likely to continue throwing up bizarre-looking solutions with real practical value.
