A "paper airplane" that can be folded in one hour destroyed a fighter jet worth $100 million...

These paper airplanes that look like children's toys are actually drones that can be used in military activities. They are being developed and produced in large numbers and then flown to battlefields with real guns and bullets.

Drones that can be used in military activities | 7 NEWS

The company that makes these drones, SYPAQ, is from Australia and is working to provide low-cost disposable drones in large quantities. These drones are officially called Corvo - Precision Payload Delivery System (PPDS), but are now often simply called cardboard drones.

Corvo PPDS | SYPAQ

Recently, they have received a lot of attention and discussion internationally because they have been used in actual combat.

Lightweight and easy to use, affordable

Although they are called cardboard drones, they are not actually made of ordinary cardboard. The official introduction manual states that the fuselage is made of foldable foam board . The fuselage and wings are disposable, while the propulsion module and avionics module are reusable.

They have a wingspan of 2 meters and use fixed wings. Compared with rotary-wing drones, fixed-wing drones can provide a longer range because the wings can generate lift and the fuselage is subject to less drag, which is more energy-efficient.

Wingspan is 2 meters | SYPAQ

The cardboard drone may look simple on the outside, but it is actually controlled by a military-grade guidance system. It can fly automatically without user input after launch and is easy to deploy. It can be launched manually or via a small catapult.

The propellers are powered by electricity, and the onboard lithium-ion batteries have sufficient endurance. Depending on the payload, the endurance is about 1 to 3 hours. The cruising speed is 60 km/h and the flight range is 40 to 120 km. The cardboard is coated with wax to allow flying in wet weather.

Manual launch | 7 NEWS

The cardboard drones weigh 2.4 kg empty and can deliver a payload of up to 3 kg. They were originally designed to carry out short-range supply missions for the Australian military, transporting small emergency supplies. When arriving with their cargo, the soldiers can remove the propellers and avionics modules after taking the supplies, and then throw away the frame of the aircraft.

The cardboard drones can also be returned for reuse, but they are low-cost and can be considered consumable. The company that makes them didn't reveal an exact price, but they reportedly cost between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars each, which is cheap by military standards.

Can be launched via a small catapult | 7 NEWS

They can be folded into the size of a pizza box and stacked together. The flat packaging also makes it easy to transport, reducing the burden of logistics. Once opened, they can be assembled in an hour with only small tools such as a glue gun, a knife, a rubber band and a wrench. These are designed to be easy to assemble in a war zone.

Flat package, easy to transport and assemble | SYPAQ

Stealth shooting, throwing bombs

Compared with other drones, cardboard drones are not only cheaper but also more secretive because "cardboard" is difficult to be detected by radar .

"Radar will detect objects like motors, batteries and propellers, but it won't detect cardboard," said Jamey Jacob, director of the Unmanned Systems Institute at Oklahoma State University.

Cardboard drone and catapult | SYPAQ

To adapt to reconnaissance missions, soldiers only need to make a hole in the drone and let it carry a camera to fly over the enemy's territory to monitor, scout and collect intelligence. The camera can be triggered intelligently to record the flight position, altitude and flight attitude. It is said that they can provide images covering a large area and transmit them in real time.

The cardboard drone uses GPS, but if it is jammed, its control software can locate itself based on speed and heading, so it can continue to fly and perform its mission. In addition, the flight plan is encrypted, so even if it is recovered, the operator's location cannot be traced.

SYPAQ

"I call it a flying shoebox," said SYPAQ founder George Vicino, who was born in Sicily and moved to Australia as a child. "Anything you can put in a shoebox, you can send it 120 kilometers away." Vicino was born in Sicily, Italy, and moved to Australia as a child. The "Corvo" in the cardboard drone's name means "crow" in Italian.

From being used to deliver supplies to being equipped with cameras, these drones also have an application option - delivering bombs . Vicino said that the cardboard drones are not designed to carry bombs, but when they are delivered, "we don't actually control how they are used in the field."

High consumption, it's a new bullet

Nowadays, there is a huge demand for drones, and more and more drones are being used as key weapons to strike targets.

However, drones are expensive to acquire. This is because they are slow, low-flying, and unarmored, making them easy to shoot down. In addition, they are limited by anti-drone jammers, bad weather, and other factors. All of this means that drones are likely to become consumables like bullets or artillery shells.

In the growing and powerful fleet of drones, cardboard drones are unusual. “While their performance will never exceed that of systems made from traditional drone materials, such as plastics and composites, their return on investment is very high, especially if you expect a high loss rate,” Jacob said.

Allegedly, a cardboard drone destroyed an opponent's $100 million fighter jet some time ago | SYPAQ

Currently, SYPAQ is also developing swarming software. The swarming capability of drones is also a current research focus, and swarming is highly dependent on the development of artificial intelligence. It is worth mentioning that in a recent drone competition held by ETH University in Zurich, a drone driven by artificial intelligence defeated a drone controlled by a world champion drone operator, which also shows the development potential of drone swarms.

An autonomous drone (blue) trained with artificial intelligence beat the best time by a human piloted drone by half a second | UZH, Leonard Bauersfeld

Swarms of drones could overwhelm air defenses through sheer numbers, or be used as decoys in counterintelligence operations. A fleet of cardboard drones could cost far less than a single $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drone for mass attacks.

The package takes up little space | SYPAQ

In future conflicts, drones will play an important role, affecting international relations and national defense security.

References

[1] Cureton, P. (2023, September 01). Ukraine war: Australian-made cardboard drones used to attack Russian airfield show how innovation is key to modern warfare. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-australian-made-cardboard-drones-used-to-attack-russian-airfield-show-how-innovation-is-key-to-modern-warfare-212629

[2] Peck, M. (2023). Ukraine's Humble Cardboard Drones Are a Master Class in Stealth. Popular Mechanics. Retrieved from https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a43432035/ukraine-cardboard-drones-stealth

[3] Hambling, D. (2023). Paper Planes? Ukraine Gets Flat-Packed Cardboard Drones From Australia (UPDATED). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2023/03/06/paper-planes-ukraine-gets-flat-packed-cardboard-drones-from-australia/?sh=70db04b7b8a2

[4] Jankowicz, M. (2023). Ukraine's $3.5K 'cardboard' drone is a new weapon against Russia. Business Insider. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-is-using-a-cheap-flat-pack-cardboard-drone-australia-2023-8

[5] https://corvouas.com.au/wp-content/uploads/CORVO-PPDS-web-version-23082023-compressed.pdf

[6] CORVO | Next Generation Autonomous Systems. (2023, August 25). Retrieved from https://corvouas.com.au

[7] High-speed AI Drone. (2023, September 06). Retrieved from https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2023/Drone-race.html

[8] The Aussie cardboard drones hitting Russia in massed attacks. (2023, September 06). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com.au/covers/innovation/the-aussie-cardboard-drones-hitting-russia-in-massed-attacks

[9] Military UAV Usage Preferences and Security Impacts 1. (2020, March). Retrieved from http://qjip.tsinghuajournals.com/article/2022/2096-1545/101393D-2022-2-103.shtml

Planning and production

Author: Bringing Science Home

Editor: Yinuo