Russian military warming to UAVs

The Russian Defense Ministry has been methodical in expanding the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) over the past few years. The first combat experience came during the Georgian war of 2008, when the Russian military got to realize the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance benefits offered by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Back then, the Russian Armed Forces had insignificant numbers of UAVs, mostly designed in the Soviet times and therefore significantly obsolete. The Defense Ministry has since been working to rectify the situation. This work comprises seven major efforts.

The first step involved the purchase of a batch of light Bird-Eye 400 and tactical Searcher Mk II UAVs from Israel’s state-owned concern Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Although not enough to fully meet the demand of the Russian Armed Forces, these vehicles did allow the military to gain initial experience operating contemporary unmanned systems.

The second phase consisted in agreeing with IAI on Russian assembly of the two UAV types, which started in February 2012 at Ural Works of Civil Aviation in Yekaterinburg. IAI supplied Russia with the requisite technology, equipment, test stands and simulators, as well as training in Israel for Russian production personnel.