Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced a programme to spend about 320 billion roubles (US $9 billion) by 2020 on military UAS, according to local news agency ITAR-TASS.
Under the plan, the new UASs will boost the reconnaissance, communications and combat capacities of the Russian armed forces, according to the minister. Shoigu did not disclose the number of UAS to be acquired. Presently, the Russian military operates a fleet of nearly 500, the minister said.
The latest move follows last year’s announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that UAS are a vital area of development in modern aviation, and that Russia needs to develop a wide range of UAS, including combat and reconnaissance variants.
The Russian military is set to test the Yabhon United 40 medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS built by the United Arab Emirates’ Adcom Systems.
Source: Defense News