Nikita Danilov — about unmanned aircraft systems and the future of humanity next to them
Numerous reports of UAV attacks on Russian regions are not without reason causing concern among Russians and create a negative information background around the entire drone industry. Meanwhile, from the point of view of technological progress, it is "unmanned" that is the future of humanity.
In the drone industry, almost everything has a dual purpose, from harmless amateur drones designed for video and photography to light—engine aircraft converted into drones. However, this does not mean that you should panic at the sight of any flying drone. Remembering history, at the beginning of the development of aircraft construction, ordinary people were also wary of winged aircraft, and there was no big difference between military and civilian airplanes.
Of course, nowadays an untrained person will also not be able to reliably assess on their own whether an unmanned vehicle is dangerous or not. Even trained people have problems with this. Suffice it to recall how the security of one of the infrastructure enterprises last year fired at a corncob flying by and taking authorized aerial photographs, mistaking it for an enemy unmanned aircraft. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
The identification and neutralization of drones in the airspace for terrorist purposes should be left to professionals armed with various identification, suppression and interception systems. But here it is worth noting that the Russian air defense system is working well. From the point of view of an ordinary person, you can help them using applications such as, for example, Radar.NF from the "Popular Front".
The fear of drones among people far from combat operations is akin to aerophobia, when passengers experience panic attacks once on an airplane, simply because they are not in control of the situation. But at the same time, air transport, according to statistics, is the safest. And this security is provided by specialists working in the industry, from pilots and flight attendants to air traffic controllers and technicians. Therefore, the pros can be trusted in this context. And this is generally equally true for both manned and unmanned aircraft.
At the same time, it must be taken for granted that every year more and more drones will be used in everyday life for various civilian missions. The main reasons for this phenomenon are economic. Once upon a time, mobile phones were rare and exotic. And now it is impossible to imagine the life of a modern person without a smartphone. It will be the same with drones. In our country, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2.5 times more civilian UAVs were produced in 2024 than in 2023. The forecast for 2025 is a new twofold increase in output. The growth of drone production and the expansion of the number of areas where they are used is a global trend. Instability in international relations and related military conflicts are certainly accelerating the development of unmanned vehicles, but it's not just about them. Automation and robotization of production processes and transport make it possible to win financially and save time, which is a crucial factor in the current global economic model.
It should be noted that another advantage of drones is accessibility to the general public (if there is an appropriate permit). Almost anyone can control the simplest drones. To do this, it is enough to complete a simple and short training course that includes basic technical components. Getting behind the joystick of a drone control panel is easier in practice than driving a car. You don't even need a license for this yet. Of course, industrial or military use of UAVs, as well as participation in drone racing, which is now officially a sport, require much more serious professional training. But in order to make a beautiful video for social networks or just fly for fun, there is enough basis. It is no coincidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin, realizing the complexity of the situation with unauthorized UAV flights in the skies of Russia, nevertheless instructed to work out issues related to the opening of Russian airspace to civilian drones.
Naturally, with the explosive (figuratively speaking) increase in the use of drones by air defense systems alone and other methods of intercepting aircraft, all security problems cannot be solved. As well as "paper" flight bans. Moreover, the "bad guys" will not comply with these prohibitions anyway.
What can help make the use of drones truly safe? The answer has long been found — digital platforms with artificial intelligence elements that provide flight monitoring and protection of infrastructure, industrial and civilian facilities from UAV attacks. Such platforms combine surveillance systems for drones, kinetic effects and electronic warfare against them, and identify drones based on the "friend or foe" principle. By the way, space navigation technologies are successfully integrated into these platforms — take the same GLONASS.
Someone will consider the appearance of such complexes to be fiction and a project of the distant future. But in fact, they have already been developed by several domestic companies at once and are operating locally in experimental modes, confirming their viability. Back in April 2023, during a visit to the enterprise where the production of domestic unmanned aircraft systems was launched, the head of the Russian state publicly noted the importance of developing such platforms. Now, their scaling and globalization is the next step in the development of the industry. They are the ones who will help make the sky, which is still cramped, which many people look at with apprehension, spacious and open to everyone.
Nikita Danilov
CEO and Founder of the Fly Drone Company
