Belousov announced his readiness to develop the industry of unmanned systems

Russia as a whole is ready for the official launch and development of unmanned aerial systems, the line of existing drones is almost complete, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said at Archipelago 2023 in Novosibirsk.

Of course, we do not have everything, but we can do everything at the level of samples, prototypes, demonstrators. We have almost the entire line, one might say, with the exception of individual components, and if we talk about the line of unmanned aerial systems themselves, then it is almost complete. Moreover, the samples are quite at the level of world achievements, and some things exceed the world ones, ”he said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

To date, all federal projects of the new national project “Unmanned Aerial Systems” have been structured, the First Deputy Prime Minister said.

On behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the government must approve this national project by September 1. “We have yet to work with the Ministry of Finance to identify funding sources. I hope that we will get a balanced, verified version,” Belousov said.

On June 28, the government, on behalf of the president, approved a strategy for the development of unmanned aircraft until 2030 and for the future until 2035. The main goal of the document is the emergence over the next 6.5 years of a new branch of the economy related to the production and use of civilian drones.

The strategy includes five main areas: stimulating demand for domestic UAS, developing and mass-producing such systems, developing infrastructure, training personnel for unmanned aircraft, and fundamental and advanced research in the field of UAS.

In April, Putin admitted that the volume of the unmanned aircraft industry in Russia could reach 1 trillion rubles. According to Belousov, by the end of 2026 Russia will enter the production of drones in the amount of 18,000 units per year, which will cover 52% of domestic demand.