The Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR), together with the Agency for Technological Development (ATD) and the Moscow Government, at the site of the Rudnevo industrial park of the Technopolis Moscow special economic zone, organized a number of meetings and seminars for representatives of the AIRR regions on the development of unmanned aerial systems.
More than 100 representatives from AIRR regions got acquainted with the infrastructure of the Rudnevo industrial park and discussed ways to develop regional practices for testing technologies and using UAS. At the practical seminar “Design of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” a master class on UAS design was organized for participants, where they had the opportunity to understand in detail the typology of UAS, the sequence of steps to unify components and components for them.
The experts at the event were, in particular, the Director General of the Agency for Technological Development Vladimir Pastukhov, the Director for Project Activities of the National Technology Initiative Alexander Malkov, and the Acting Director General of the Federal Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Oleg Ruzsky.
“Today, many constituent entities of the Russian Federation are paying close attention to the creation of centers for the development and production of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This is due to the wide possibilities for using UAS in a variety of industries: energy, agriculture, construction, geological exploration, cartography. The direction is interesting and promising, including in the light of the development of artificial intelligence ,” said Alexander Smekalin, director of the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia.
The national project “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” was approved on December 26, 2023. The amount of funding for the project from the federal budget until 2030 will be 696 billion rubles. By the end of this period, production of 32.5 thousand civil aircraft drones per year is expected.
“The national project will have a comprehensive impact on the development of the industry. It covers not only the tasks of developing our own production, but also building up human resources, developing the service sector and transforming infrastructure,” said Vladimir Pastukhov, Director General of the Agency for Technological Development.
Vladimir Pastukhov drew the attention of the meeting participants to the importance of two federal projects, which are part of the structure of the national project “Stimulating demand for domestic UAS” and “Development, standardization and serial production of UAS and components.” Their implementation is aimed at removing barriers such as the lack of mass production and operation of UAS, dependence on imports for a number of critical components, including engines, propellers, servos, batteries, power electronics, transmission elements, flight and navigation equipment, the expert noted.
Representatives of the Federal Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems told participants about the potential of a network of research and production centers (RPC) for testing and competencies in the field of UAS technology development. The center began work in the Rudnevo industrial park in 2023 and today unites leading Russian developers and manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles: 12 residents work on its territory, 3 of whom are among the top 5 in terms of drone production in the country.
The topic of SPC aroused great interest among the meeting participants. The regions shared their own experience in creating the necessary infrastructure and plans for potential residents of research and production centers to develop projects.
Representatives of the Efko Group of Companies spoke about their project “Transport of the Future” in the Togliatti SEZ, Samara Region . At the end of 2023, the first stage of a plant for the production of unmanned aircraft systems was launched there. The volume of investments in the project amounted to about 7 billion rubles, of which about 3 billion rubles. went to develop UAS models and build infrastructure. First of all, it was planned to produce Hector S-80 agricultural drones, create a training center and a center of competence in the field of precision agriculture using drones. In addition to the model of agricultural drones, mobile complexes for ground servicing of vehicles and a system for their safe use inside transport corridors were developed. By 2024, Transport of the Future plans to produce more than 1.5 thousand agrodrones and other types of UAS weighing more than 10 kg.
The company claims that the production site will produce seven models of drones, as well as key UAS components: propellers, engines, drivers, flight controllers, body parts and a number of other items.
“The topic of BAS is one of the most pressing on the agenda of the AIRR regions. This is confirmed by the number of participants in our first interregional seminar - more than 100 people from government authorities, infrastructure responsible for the implementation of the national project on unmanned systems, and UAV manufacturing companies. We discussed a wide range of issues related to financial and non-financial instruments included in the national project, various scenarios for the use of drones, as well as the features of air traffic management for UAVs. In 2024, we plan to hold several more highly specialized events on this topic ,” said Dmitry Mitroshin, head of the regional direction of the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia .
Unmanned aircraft systems news in AIRR regions
Bashkiria will receive 53.4 billion rubles for the development of production of unmanned aircraft systems and training of UAV operators in 2024-2030 . Funds will be allocated for two federal projects - “Advanced technologies for unmanned aircraft systems” and “Personnel for unmanned aircraft systems.” Currently, personnel training in the field of unmanned aircraft is carried out by the Ufa University of Science and Technology, the Ufa State Petroleum Technical University, colleges of radio electronics, architecture, construction and public utilities.
As part of the national project “Unmanned Aviation Systems”, the Ulyanovsk region has allocated 264 million rubles from the federal budget. In October 2023, a Center for Unmanned Systems was created in the region to coordinate all processes related to the development of the UAS industry on the basis of the Technological Development Agency (ANO APR, founder - the regional government). According to the Asia-Pacific region, through the regional Fund for Financing Industry and Entrepreneurship, support is provided for UAS developers and manufacturers in lending to projects at 1% per annum for up to two years, up to 5 million rubles. from the regional budget and up to 1 billion rubles from the federal budget. The Asia-Pacific region also notes that in 2023, more than 5 thousand UAVs were produced in the region.
In the Irkutsk region, it is planned to create a flight test site for UAS on the basis of the Irkutsk branch of the Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation, as well as a personnel center for unmanned aircraft systems. In addition, a situation center for monitoring and controlling UAS flights will be created in the region to coordinate the use of airspace within the region.
In Perm, they proposed the concept of an automated inspection system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using smart composite materials with built-in optical sensors. The project was supported by regional experts and nominated to the top 1000 best ideas in Russia for the “Strong Ideas for New Times” forum.
“With a multiple increase in the number of operating unmanned aerial vehicles to tens of thousands of units, there will be a sharp jump in incidents arising from the breakdown of such products. A combination of photonics technologies and composite materials will solve this problem by monitoring the state of the UAS in real time,” according to specialists from the NTI Photonics Competence Center.
In Novosibirsk at the aircraft plant named after V.P. Chkalov (NAZ) serial production of unmanned aerial vehicles "Okhotnik" will tentatively begin in the second half of 2024.
In the Samara region , in Tolyatti, a plant for the production of UAS was built and the necessary infrastructure for this was created. In 2024, the company plans to produce 1.5 thousand drones. The plant employs specialists from the Samara region and other regions of the country.