Russia will be able to produce advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) able to compete with those produced abroad by 2013, the head of a major UAV production company said on Friday.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said in April that Russia had spent about 5 billion rubles ($172 million) on the development of indigenous drones, which eventually failed their tests.
Russian Air Force head Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said last November that Russian UAVs do not satisfy the requirements for speed, altitude and other specifications.
"In the next two or three years, there will be a breakthrough in the Russian UAV market," Vladimir Verba, the director general of the Vega company, pledged during an international exhibition on hydro-aviation in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik.
Following a request by Russia's governmental military-industrial commission, Vega has drawn up a complex program intended to improve the country's UAV production starting from 2025, he added.
The Russian military stressed the need to provide the Armed Forces with advanced reconnaissance systems in the wake of a brief military conflict with Georgia in August 2008, when the effectiveness of Russian military operations was severely hampered by the lack of reliable intelligence.
According to various estimates, the Russian military needs up to 100 UAVs and at least 10 guidance and control systems to ensure effective battlefield reconnaissance.
Russia has reportedly signed two UAV contracts with Israel. Under the first contract, signed in April 2009, Israel delivered two Bird Eye 400 systems (worth $4 million), eight I View MK150 tactical UAVs ($37 million) and two Searcher Mk II multi-mission UAVs ($12 million).
The second contract was for the purchase of 36 UAVs, worth a total of $100 million, to be delivered later this year.
Russia and Israel are currently negotiating the establishment of a joint $300-million venture to produce UAVs.
Russian Defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said that alongside Israel, France could become one of Russia's partners in making UAVs.
GELENDZHIK, September 10 (RIA Novosti)
