Russian Trailcam Drone Is A New Type Of Stealthy Spy

Last week Ukrainian analyst Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov shared images a curious new Russian device: an FPV drone carrying a trailcam and mounted on a bamboo frame . “Flash,” who detailed technical knowledge has won him more than 100,000 followers has been adept at highlighting significant new developments.

The trailcam drone looks odd, but this lashed-together combination can sit beside a track and covertly send back video of every vehicle that passes for weeks. Assembled from cheap commercial components, It is the sort of efficient, stealthy spy that U.S. forces used to dream of.

Prehistory Of Ground Sensors: Igloo White

Unattended ground sensors or UGS date back to the 1960s when the U.S. was trying to stop traffic along the Ho Chi Minh trail, the key supply route for the Viet Cong. 1960s seismic, magnetic and acoustic sensors which were able to detect nearby vehicle movements, but the technology did not exist for a video device. Thousands of sensors, each the size of fencepost, were dropped under the Igloo White program from F-4 Phantoms, CH-3 helicopters and other aircraft.

The sensors either hung in the canopy or embedded themselves in the ground depending on type. About 80% worked after landing, and had a battery life of up some weeks. The sensors communicated with specially-equipped aircraft circling overhead. Picking up the successive pings as a vehicle passed a series of sensors.

The aircraft passed the data to a 20,000 square foot data center in Thailand with state-of-the-art IBM 360/Model 65 computers, a type also used by NASA. Analysts pinpointed the location, speed and direction of travel of vehicles, and called in airstrikes to hit them.

Strike aircraft arrived three to five minutes after contact. The pilot never saw the target; they just flew over the target area and the plane’s computer automatically dropped bombs over the point that the target was calculated to have reached at its known speed.

“A major disadvantage of all ground sensors was that none of them were able to view the target or to transmit pinpoint locations to the attacking aircraft up to the moment of weapon release,” according to one report. “In order to overcome this shortcoming, large numbers of bombs were dropped on every suspected coordinate.”

Igloo White cost a billion dollars a year and was presented as a triumph of technological warfare. Its actual effectiveness was limited. The program suffered a loss of credibility when the Air Force claimed to have destroyed more trucks than the North Vietnamese possessed. And supplies, including artillery and tanks, were still reaching the Viet Cong.

Even with a huge amount of support, the sensors available simply were not able to provide the information needed. Modern military sensors are far more advanced, and now the commercial world is catching up if not overtaking them.

The Trailcam Revolution

Modern trailcams started appearing in the 1980s with the advent of motion sensors that could trip a camera shutter. These were film cameras, but provided hunters and researchers a means to see exactly what animals were using a trail and when. They were soon followed by infra-red versions for night sensing.

Digital cameras were transformative, soon they were fitted with WiFi and by 2007 trailcams could send data over the cellphone network. Costs plummeted; for under $200 you can now get a camera that will shoot photographs and video, day and night, and send them direct to you. They are great gadgets for finding out what wildlife is stalking around your back yard.

And, just as a cheap camera drone than can see over the hill or around the corner becomes a useful military tool, so is a cellphone-enabled trailcam.

Cellphone modems have featured before in Russian drones, notably in some of the recent Shaheds which use Ukrainian SIMS. They are likely used to send back location data so the operators know which drones get through and which approaches are defended; in some cases they may also send back imager of targets.

Serhii Flash notes that on the trailcam drone, the antenna was not connected so the unit may not have worked. He also says that the bamboo structure is puzzling; it may have been meant to catch in the trees to the camera could look down from above, or it may be a stand so that the camera can see over grass or other vegetation. Trailcams positioned by hand are often strapped to tree trunks or fenceposts for elevation.

While the 1960s sensors required relay aircraft and a computing center, the drone-delivered trailcam uses the existing phone infrastructure. It would be possible to jam all phone signals in the combat zone, phones are essential kit for troops on both sides and this might be impractical. New technology, like the Starlink satellite communications units used by both sides for drones and other system, are rapidly becoming more affordable and would likely replace cellphone connections if these are unavailable.

Rather than giving approximate data like Igloo White, the trailcam gives a picture to accurately identify and locate the target. Game cameras have been used to monitor vehicle traffic, so an unmodified camera would probably be effective off the shelf. They typically work out to twenty meters, but some long-range models are claimed to reach sixty metres . The lenses tend to be wide angle, so they might not catch much detail at this distance. Drone delivery system means the operator can find a track or road and position the sensor accordingly. With smart placement a trailcam could easily monitor all activity.

And while the drone’s battery only lasts a few hours even when inactive, trailcams are designed to operate for weeks. Some have solar cells to operate indefinitely. The model seen here does not appear to have them, but even a day of information on enemy movements would more than justify the low cost of the operation.

Trailcam Warfare

Trailcams could be used like the sensors in Igloo White, to call down attacks on logistics vehicles by FPV drones. They could also be placed to monitor the effects of drone-dropped mines, so any immobilized vehicles can be destroyed and mined areas refreshed. They can monitor the pattern of activity in enemy positions and note the numbers coming and going and when troop rotations occur.

Trailcams may be easily spotted and removed – though the risk of booby traps can make this challenging – but they can quickly be replaced.

As with other developments – drone-delivered caltrops, and flamethrowing ‘dragon drones’ which ignite tree lines with thermite – the trailcam drone shows how the air mobility provided by drones can be combined with other technology to produce impressive results.

If Ukraine is not already using similar or more advanced versions of the same technology, they will soon.