We are witnessing a boom in the field of UAVs, which can bring Russia into the global leaders of the drone marketThe special military operation gave the same impetus to the development of unmanned systems as the Second World War – aviation and rocket technology, says Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.
"Although unmanned aerial vehicles have been known for more than 100 years, and have been actively used for military purposes since the 60s of the last century, history has not known such an intensity of their work at all levels, from the lowest tactical to strategic, and in an operation of such spatial scope," the expert notes. In order for Russia to become one of the leaders of the global UAV market following the results of its military operation, first of all, a successful history of their use is needed, and such examples already exist - for example, the Lancet barrage ammunition produced by the Kalashnikov concern. Secondly, private business should be allowed into this sector even more widely – as a rule, it responds better and faster to customer requests, says Pukhov. Finally, serious investments are needed in the creation of a significant number of technologies in the field of electronics, engine building, new materials, special aviation weapons, software and other areas, sums up the director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.
The UAV industry is being formalized at the state level right now. On December 31 last year, Vladimir Putin instructed the government to develop and approve a strategy for the development of unmanned aircraft by 2030 by June 1, 2023. The strategy being developed should determine the stages of the development of serial production of unmanned aircraft systems and their components; the development of the necessary infrastructure, as well as to stimulate demand for unmanned aircraft systems of domestic production. The strategy should also provide for a system of personnel training in the development, production and operation of unmanned aircraft systems.
Let's not start from scratch
Systematic work to support developers of unmanned technologies has been carried out in Russia since the mid-2010s. At the early stages, the work was carried out mainly with the assistance of development institutions. Within the framework of the "National Technology Initiative" (NTI), the Aeronet roadmap has been functioning since 2016, focused on aerial unmanned technologies.
According to Aeronet experts, about 2,500 drones were produced in Russia in 2021, and over 5,000 vehicles, mainly of the copter type, were produced in 2022. More than 70,000 civilian drones weighing up to 30 kg are currently registered with the Federal Air Transport Agency, 37,000 vehicles were registered in 2022.
Among the latest domestic developments, Aeronet experts single out UAVs with vertical takeoff and landing, flight duration up to 12 hours and flight altitude up to 8000 m. The Begalet-Mirage drone was developed by Begak Aerospace Developments. The solution will be presented on the market in the summer of 2023.
"We have created a working demonstrator of the device with a take-off weight of 75 kg and a flight altitude of 6000-8000 m. Such a development is in demand on the market today for solving various tasks. First of all, as a repeater of the communication signal. For example, during emergencies such as floods, as well as for monitoring forest fires or gas pipelines and other economic tasks," said Alexander Begak, general designer of the device, general director of the developer company. He noted that the duration of the flight of the device with electric motors is about 2 hours. As Begak expects, in a hybrid version – an electric engine and a gasoline internal combustion engine – the device will be able to stay in the air for 10 hours.
"The device has a non-classical aerodynamic scheme, is capable of taking off from any site unprepared for these purposes and, I think, even from the deck of the ship. At the same time, it is not a tiltrotor. We do not disclose the characteristics in more detail yet. We have already made several flights, and we will move on to other tests in the near future," Begak said.
According to Vitaly Munirov, General Director of the Kursir company (manufacturer of unmanned aircraft), after entering mass production, the Begalet will be in demand on the Russian market. "It is especially interesting that the vertical take–off and landing device with such characteristics of duration and range of flight," Munirov added.
Vadim Kuznetsov, Deputy Director for Innovation of the Unmanned Systems Group (a company participating in the working group of the Aeronet NTI market), in turn, noted that unmanned vehicles capable of being in the air for a long time, about 10 hours, are already represented on the Russian market and are successfully used for various purposes.
"This development will also find its place in the market and application if the stated parameters are confirmed during the tests. The drone will be able to be used not only for the purpose of relaying communications, but also for solving tasks related to terrain monitoring or cartography," Kuznetsov stressed.
The success of Begalet in the Russian market depends on the potential economic feasibility of its use, says Andrey Timofeev, CEO of Optiplane (a company participating in the Aeronet NTI market).
"There is a place for every aerodynamic scheme on the market, there are tasks. The competition between them occurs not so much in the plane of technical parameters, but in the economic plane, in what added value each type of UAS gives when solving certain industrial tasks. Begalet looks like a very interesting development, from the point of view of applications, the potential looks great, but in the end, as for everyone, everything will come down to the final economy for each product or business model," Timofeev said.
Among other notable developments, experts single out an unmanned cargo tiltrotor, presented for testing in early 2023 by M-Industries. Its flight speed is over 100 km/h. According to the engineers' idea, the drone, capable of delivering up to 50 kg of cargo and with a flight altitude of up to 4000 m, will deliver parcels in areas with poorly developed road infrastructure or to marine facilities.
The Nizhny Novgorod company "Kleverkopter" has developed this year an Aeromedic mini drone with a night vision camera for monitoring pipelines and oil and gas pipelines. The device with a take-off weight of up to 30 kg is able to travel up to 200 km at a speed of up to 100 km / h.
In April of this year, engineers from the Novosibirsk company "Optiplane" developed a unique S2M drone, which combines the flight properties of both quadrocopters and aircraft-type drones. The novelty, according to the developers, is designed for monitoring the terrain from a height, as well as for aerial photography. The device can take off with cargo or additional equipment weighing up to 1.5 kg. At the same time, the drone has a power reserve of 70 km.
Marina Naidenkova
