Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced a program to spend about 320 billion rubles (US $9 billion) by 2020 on military UAVs.
The latest move follows last year’s announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that UAVs are a vital area of development in modern aviation, and that Russia needs to develop a wide range of drones, including combat and reconnaissance variants.
The Russian military is set to test the Yabhon United 40 MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) UAV built by the United Arab Emirates’ Adcom Systems. Other foreign-based companies to supply drones to Russia include IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries), which delivered 12 UAVs to the military under a deal inked in 2009.
