Russia is gearing up to spend 320 million rubles (US $9 billion) on a new military UAV program by the year 2020. According to Defense News, the announcement was made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Russia is looking to upgrade the reconnaissance, communications, and combat capabilities of their armed forces, which is why they’re unveiling the new drone program. It is not known at this time how many drones will be acquired, but there are currently around 500 UAVs utilized by the Russian military.
As Defense News points out, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that drones were a crucial component of aviation development, and pledged his commitment to develop drones which could be used in a variety of applications.
Russia will soon test the new Yabhon United 40 medium-altitude, long-endurance drone from UAE-based Adcom Systems.
