During the flight (more than 12 hours), the ZALA 421-16E5G hybrid UAV covered a distance of more than 1,130 kilometers.
The first hybrid UAV ZALA flew on the route Izhevsk-Yoshkar-Ola-Izhevsk.
The developers managed to implement a system of simultaneous use of an unmanned aircraft by two flight detachments. The control points were located in different regions of Russia, the operators used new high-speed communication methods. Tests have shown that the system allows you to reduce the number of people involved in controlling the drone and thereby reduce the influence of the human factor.
ZALA Aero reports that the new on-board visual navigation system (VNS) does not depend on satellite navigation, which allows the aircraft to fly in complete radio silence, performing the task, and also provides multi-level protection against electronic warfare. The system proved to be an order of magnitude more accurate than the inertial navigation system.
A new on-board intelligent processing system AIVI was also demonstrated. The AIVI system in passive mode provides automatic detection and recognition of objects from several sources, with an overview of the entire lower hemisphere (360 degrees), which allows you to get up-to-date information about the number and location of objects, changes in the situation right during the flight.
This system allows you to increase the area of the UAV survey by 30 times, compared with standard detection tools, eliminating the human factor when searching for objects of interest.