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The Russian defence industry is moving forward with plans to open an advanced drone training program and increase its unmanned aerial vehicle production tenfold.
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Defence manufacturing company Kalashnikov Concern, owned by Russian state corporation Rostec, has indicated plans to increase the production of unmanned aerial vehicles tenfold in 2024, according to a company statement.
The comments were made by Kalashnikov Concern president Alan Lushnikov to Russian Army General Sergei Shoigu during a visit to the Izhevsk Unmanned Systems production site. The area has recently commissioned a new 5,800-square-metre production workshop supporting 360 additional jobs.
“The new UAV production facility has CNC machines installed, and the number of machining machines has increased manifold,” a Rostec statement said.
“Thanks to the commissioning of additional capacities, the company has all the resources to further increase production volumes.
“(The production site) has a closed production cycle and its own testing base, which allows it to quickly test new types of weapons and military equipment with minimal involvement of third-party specialised organisations.
“The direction of civil unmanned aerial systems is actively developing; the company’s designers are developing new unmanned aerial vehicles and guided loitering munitions.”
Reconnaissance and strike types of unmanned aerial vehicles with strength and reliability upgrades based on combat use experience are of particular importance, according to the company.
Rostec itself has launched a training centre for the unmanned aircraft specialists. As part of the advanced training program, students are taught to control unmanned aerial vehicles, analyse data obtained using them and counter drone operations.
Training reportedly includes 30 to 165 hours of pre-flight and flight training in a theoretical and practical format. The company has announced plans to admit 50 people in the first month of training.
“The programs are aimed at specialists who use unmanned aerial vehicles in their work: surveyors, cartographers, builders, power engineers, agricultural and oil and gas specialists, videographers, photographers, ecologists, agronomists, forestry workers, engineers, and security officers,” a Rostec statement said.
“The training centre … has a license to train specialists in the field of unmanned aircraft. Graduates of the centre will receive a certificate of the established form with the assignment of qualifications, which will be entered into the database of the Federal Register of Information on Documents on Education and Qualifications, Documents on Training.”
Rostec also creates a number of unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-drone equipment, which have reportedly seen extensive military use in Ukraine.
