Rosaviatsiya has proposed to start producing drones in “friendly” countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and to support manufacturers in this, Vedomosti has learned. The creation of sites for UAV assembly abroad is promising, given that some “friendly” countries have no restrictions on the purchase of electronic components and dual-use materials, experts believe.

Rosaviatsiya has sent a letter to the Ministry of Transport with a proposal to add a clause to the national project “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” (UAS) on the creation of sites for the production of Russian drones in “friendly” countries, Vedomosti writes, having studied the document. Its authenticity was confirmed to the publication by two sources in UAS developer companies.

Rosaviatsiya proposes to support Russian drone manufacturers in entering the markets of Asia, Africa, and Latin America and to create sites for interaction between industry participants from the BRICS countries.

The publication sent inquiries to the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the representative of the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin, who held a meeting on August 22 on the development of the unmanned industry. The representative of Rosaviatsiya refrained from commenting.

The national project for the development of UAS with an estimate of 900 billion rubles by 2030 was launched in January 2024, the publication notes. The curator of the national project was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, who became the Minister of Defense in May of this year.

The creation of UAV assembly sites abroad is promising for Russia, given that some "friendly" countries have no restrictions on the purchase of electronic components and dual-use materials, noted Vitaly Munirov, CEO of Kursir, an expert in the market of the National Technology Initiative (NTI) Aeronet.

Production can and should be organized in African and Latin American countries, noted Dmitry Datsykov, Director of RuDrones. Drone Technologies. In these regions, Nikita Danilov, CEO and founder of Fly Drone, specified, it would be possible to deploy production of agrodrones, as well as UAVs for monitoring missions and aerial photography. According to Munirov, it is possible to organize production of simple products in more than a year, and “serious machines” weighing from 30 kg — in 2-3 years.

The total export of Russian drones in 2018-2022 reached 600 million rubles, the publication reported earlier, citing a draft strategy for the development of domestic UAVs until 2030. Sudan and Venezuela bought the most Russian-made drones at that time.

Currently, drone exports are prohibited due to the Russian “military special operation”* in Ukraine, noted Nikolai Ryashin, CEO of Rusdronoport. He emphasized that many good drones are being developed in Russia and “there is definitely export potential.”