Russian Army Considering UAVs

An item over at defpro.com says that the Russian Army is planning to add tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to its reconnaissance battalions. In an interview with ITAR-TASS quoted on the defpro.com site, General Vladimir Boldyrev said that Russia is planning to equip the units with remotely piloted tactical aircraft.

According to the General, the first UAVs to be deployed would have ranges of 25 to 100 kilometers and that Russia might subsequently introduce long-endurance tactical UAVs with ranges up to 500 kilometers. Boldyrev said the longer range UAVs would likely be operated by the Air Force.

In 2009, Russia signed a contract with Israel for the purchase of a number of samples of unmanned aerial vehicles for military purposes, valued at approximately $50 million. However, the General indicated in the interview that Russia would soon begin development of its own UAVs. The development of domestic unmanned aircraft for intelligence and other activities is reportedly being carried out at the Yegorievsk military base.