Iraq was the first to equip reconnaissance in 2015After successfully applying it to the domestic anti-terrorism battlefield, it played a decisive role in many important battles, and for a time, it could be said to have unlimited glory. But with the news of these drones being frequently shot down on the battlefields of Yemen and Libya in the past two years, why don't military powers around the world install self-defense systems on drones?

At the current stage of service, inspection and combat最大起飞重量均在5吨以下，典型的彩虹-4A/B以及翼龙系列则仅有1.5吨左右，其中彩虹-4出口说明书显示，其最大任务载荷为345千克，仅搭载100千克燃油无其他负载时，可实现40小时长续航，而在继续搭载245千克弹药后，续航时间则下降到14小时。我们以目前军贸市场上性能最好，且装备数量最多的MILDS AN/AAR-60（V）2型紫外激光告警器+ALR-90（V）系列雷达告警器，配合ALE-47多用途布撒器的组合套装为例，其中紫外、雷达告警器最低配置均为4具以满足全向雷达搜索照射和导弹来袭告警，各自配合1具各30发箔条、热焰干扰弹的布撒器，以及其配套机载处理器和配套电路等，总重量在80千克以上，约等于两枚AR-1（射手-1）激光制导导弹或者三枚A R-2（射手-2）的重量。如果将其搭载在UAV上，不但会挤占本就狭小的机内空间，同时会严重影响The endurance and weapon mounting capability. More importantly, the high price of this self-defense countermeasure system will seriously weaken itThe low cost advantage significantly reduces the cost-effectiveness of equipment.

As is well known, the most advanced self-defense and countermeasure systems currently carried by fighter jets are not primarily targeted against large surface to air missiles or portable air defense missiles, but rather air-to-air missiles and ground field air defense firepower. Due to the latter two having stronger power acceleration time, more reliable ground guidance methods, and larger detector array aperture, conventional airborne jamming methods are difficult to achieve effectiveness. Only specialized electronic jamming aircraft such as EA-18G Roaring with large jamming pods can be effective to a certain extent. This is also why the danger level of the "Wild Mole" air defense suppression mission carried out by fighter jets so far is still much greater than that of ground close range fire support. In the situation where fighter jets alone cannot effectively defend themselves against field air defense, relying on this equipment to protect drones may not be sufficient.

实际上，无数次实战经验已经证明，自卫对抗系统实战效果大都远不如宣传口号那样令人放心，相对于所谓的先进技术设计，能够让设计更加对症下药的导引头和制导情报工作搜集才是这一系统有效工作的关键环节， 而这往往是双方互夸海口，但却只能实战检验的环节了。就在翼龙被击落的几乎同一时间，一架自卫对抗系统装备相当完备的沙特AH-64，也被胡赛武装地空导弹击落，其搭载的大型常规被动无源干扰器都没能有效发挥作用。

Overall, the current stage of unmanned aerial vehicles carrying self-defense and countermeasure systems is actually in an awkward situation. Even for miniaturized self-defense systems, their weight and volume are still relatively large, and there are few means of interference and weak targeting. Whether they are effective is still questionable; Although specialized pods have good interference effects, they far exceed their carrying capacity in terms of weight, volume, energy consumption, installation difficulty, and cost-effectiveness. From the perspective of the development law of military weapons, no type of weapon can remain in an absolute dominant position for a long timeThe dominant position in the sky that has been left to everyone in recent years is itself an illusion, so we need to take a rational view of the frequent shooting down incidents that have occurred recently.

Source: Military of Strong Countries