Russian drone production soaring – deputy PM

Denis Manturov has announced a billion-dollar investment for research and development in the field

Russia expects to see a major increase in drones supplied to its military this year, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with the TV channel Russia 24 on the sidelines of the second World Defense Show that kicked off in Riyadh on Sunday.

According to Manturov, who also serves as the trade and industry minister, Russia is planning to allocate 100 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) for the research, development, and production of drones in the next three years. 

“First of all, of course, there will be more drones. Our armed forces are actively using them in many areas. The range of products is very wide, from heavy unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs] to first-person view [FPV] drones,” the official said.

He specified that the plan entails producing hundreds of thousands of FPV drones and dozens of heavy UAVs.

“This is one of the important areas where we will be working together with the Defense Ministry, and our industrial enterprises are expected to build up both competencies and production volumes,” Manturov said.

He stressed that communication equipment ensuring tactical interaction in the field would be produced in greater amounts, while production of heavy and light armored vehicles, air-defense systems and equipment for counter-battery warfare will see an expansion as well.

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The use of drones has become a critical part of combat operations in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although the technology has been used extensively on twenty-first-century battlefields, the current conflict has produced innovations in autonomous warfare never seen before, military experts highlight.

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