By the end of the year, it is planned to introduce a ban on the purchase of foreign drones for the implementation of a civil state order, this was announced by the first deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Vasily Osmakov , during an interview at the Innoprom-2023 exhibition.
On 1 September 2023, the national project for the development of unmanned aerial systems will be presented. This was also confirmed by a press release which states that the President of the Russian Federation has asked to approve the national drone project by 1 September this year and to take it into account as a priority in the budget.
In Ukraine, drone production has grown more than 100 times. This was stated by the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Development Mikhail Fedorov, commenting on the video about the production of Russian Lancet drones. “More drones are needed. And there will be more,” Fedorov reacted. According to him, it is better to use than to “take” the photos of our own productions.
In this conflict, drones have become like fuel for vehicles. The uses are multiple and increase the functionality. They range from reconnaissance, to attack, to being used to improve artillery fire. This last function allows to greatly improve the ability to hit distant targets and was used for the first time in Syria, Libya and Armenia.
And as with any war, there are also complaints about copycats. British publishing house Jane’s, which specializes in military topics, said the Zhubin kamikaze drone presented at the recent Iranian exhibition is similar in design to the Polish Warmate.
The West has already traced this connection to Iran’s military-technical cooperation with Russia. According to some observers, Russian troops have shot down drones of this type and may transfer them to the Iranians for study.
Currently the Russians are examining both the MQ – 9, which crashed a few months ago in the Mediterranean, and military mini-drones and even some British marine drones. US-made insect-sized spy drones will soon arrive in Ukraine. These drones could be used to “transport biological weapons”.
Graziella Giangiulio
