In the Moscow region, the construction of a serial plant for the production of attack drones has begun
At the industrial site in Dubna, near Moscow, builders have begun the construction of the first plant in Russia, in the workshops of which they will mass-assemble attack unmanned aerial vehicles. The Kronshtadt company intends to invest more than four billion rubles in the project.
It is reported that the plant will be built in a short time: the start of production is scheduled for November 2021. According to the press service of the company, the company in Dubna will provide permanent work for more than 1.5 thousand people and will direct more than 900 million rubles of annual tax deductions to the budget. The production, as planned, will be environmentally friendly and silent, its total area will be 45 thousand square meters.
As noted by the General Director of "Kronshtadt" Sergey Bogatikov, the company faces very tight deadlines, but everything possible and impossible will be done to meet them. "We considered different sites and decided on Dubna. Dubna is a famous science city, where industry and production are well developed, and enterprises that are important for the country are located, " Bogatikov said.
The Kronshtadt company is a developer and manufacturer of the Inokhodets attack UAV (also known as Orion). Unmanned aerial vehicles have already been used in Syria to attack the positions of international terrorists. There are also reconnaissance and civilian versions of the drone.
According to a high-ranking source in the military-industrial complex, the new production will allow to cover the needs for the "Pacer" drones from both the Ministry of Defense and other customers.
The medium-altitude strike unmanned vehicle of long flight duration "Orion" was developed by the company's designers on the order of the Ministry of Defense. The device can be in flight for up to a day. Its maximum take-off weight is 1,100 kilograms, and its combat load is up to 200 kilograms. "Orion" is capable of using small-sized guided missiles and adjustable aerial bombs on ground targets.
According to the Rossiya 1 TV channel, a medium-altitude drone with a long flight duration made 38 flights in the Syrian sky and carried out 17 airstrikes on Islamist targets. One of the attacks on the militants ' ammunition depot was carried out at night – the Orion was aimed at the target using the thermal imaging channel of its optical-location system.
In December last year, the Orion attack drone for the first time conducted launches of small-sized guided missiles under the program of testing a complex of weapons for drones when firing at ground targets. The use of this class of guided gliding aircraft bombs from a drone was also tested.
Ivan Dragomirov
The newspaper "Military-industrial Courier", published in issue # 14 (877) for April 20, 2021
