Moscow: Russia will test its first domestically-produced strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in 2014, First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov said on Friday.
In February, Army General Nikolay Makarov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, said the drone would be first test flown in late 2012, a revision of the initial 2015 timeframe.
In early April, Russia’s defense ministry issued a technical specification for the development of the drone. The new aircraft is expected to have a modular structure and be able to carry various types of equipment and armament.
The Tranzas company will build the UAV’s on-board electronics as well as its navigation and control systems, while the airframe, which will weigh about five tonnes, will be produced by the Kazan-based Sokol design bureau. Russia’s defense ministry sealed contracts with Tranzas and Sokol worth an estimated 3 billion rubles ($101.9 million) in October 2011.
In late March, Russian Air Force commander-in-chief Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, told the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid that strike drones would enter service before 2020. He did not specify how many drones will be acquired.
The US has relied heavily on UAVs, including the Predator system, to carry out missile attacks on insurgents in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.
Russia, US to hold joint anti-terror drill: Meanwhile, a military team from Russia will go to the US in May for a joint anti-terror exercise, a Russian defence ministry official said. A detachment from Russia’s Airborne Assault Forces (AAF) will take part in the exercise between May 24-31 at Fort Carson, Colorado, said defence ministry spokesman Col. Alexander Kucherenko.
“This is the first time such an exercise is being held,” he said.
“The AAF will contribute a special task group that will exercise with US special service weapons,” he said. (Agencies)