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Russia turns to creative solutions to fill UAV capability gaps

24th October 2022 - 13:00 GMT | by Alex Orlov in Helsinki

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Sourcing drones from Iran is one answer to Russia's UAS problems. This light quadcopter was displayed at Army-2022 event near Moscow and is capable of carrying a 1-7kg payload with endurance of 30-60min. Note the mortar round under the fuselage. (Photo: via author)

Deals with Iran and using regional government funds to bypass traditional defence procurement channels are some of the ways Russia is trying to fill its qualitative and quantitative drone capability gaps.

As the scale and intensity of the war in Ukraine has expanded, the need for multiple classes of UAVs at tactical and operational levels is increasingly clear. However, the ongoing conflict has revealed the inability of the Russian defence industry to produce a full spectrum of UAS in the required quantities, on time or meeting MoD specifications.

The severity of the problem was recently officially acknowledged. ‘Most of the unmanned aircraft produced in Russia do not meet the tactical and technical requirements of the Ministry of Defence,’ said Col Igor Ishchuk on 27 September during the round table ‘Prospects for the development of technologies

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