President Putin has instructed to approve the national project for the development of unmanned aerial systems by September 1. The government should take “comprehensive measures to integrate drones into the combined airspace of the Russian Federation”.
Why is so much effort put into this industry right now?
First, the task of ensuring the country’s technological dominance is acute.
A fully functioning industry for the production of civilian drones is an integral part of it. Today, even domestic unmanned aerial vehicles use a significant amount of imported components. The problem is especially acute in microelectronics and electric motors. In general, the localization of the sector is around 50-60%.
Secondly, the dynamic development of the civil UAV industry is impossible without significant and regularly increasing order volume for domestic manufacturers.
Time is more important than ever today. The Russian market for civil UAVs is young, but already quite large: by 2022 it is estimated at 50 billion rubles. In the foreseeable future, its volume may increase to 1 trillion rubles. A market of this size will make a significant contribution to the development of the country’s economy and industry, but it will be difficult to reach these figures without serious government support.
Yes, the digitalization of the domestic economy and the integration of advanced IT solutions affect the production processes of domestic enterprises. But who will buy the UAVs produced by hundreds of Russian companies (Today, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has so many manufacturers)?
Geopolitical turbulence is significantly limiting sales opportunities in foreign markets, and domestic demand is not that great yet – 70% of devices are purchased by state companies or to fulfill government orders. Until civil UAVs are deeply integrated into the work of Russian enterprises, the industry will need to be stimulated.
Thirdly, although Russian enterprises are only exploring the potential use of UAVs, even now the current demand exceeds the supply of domestic manufacturers.
While the annual market volume is estimated to be 32 thousand devices (excluding ultralight drones), about 20 thousand devices have been imported so far. The scope of civil UAVs is gradually expanding, so today it is necessary to take measures to develop the relevant sector. Otherwise, the Russian economy may become less competitive over the 5-10 year horizon.
The economic potential of using UAVs for the needs of Russian enterprises is high.
Where are drones currently used?
Russian agricultural companies are currently among the most active operators of civil UAVs. According to experts, agricultural drones could account for 40 percent of sales in the civilian drone market in the near future. And this is not surprising: the attractiveness of drones for commercial use is confirmed by numbers. The use of UAVs can increase yields by 10-30% (depending on the crop grown) and reduce the cost of crop protection products by more than 10%. At the same time, the costs of integrating UAVs into the production processes of agricultural companies are often insignificant.
Civilian drones are actively used by electric power companies, which mostly use UAVs to monitor their energy infrastructure facilities. CNews provides inspiring data, with drones increasing the speed of inspection by 5 times, and on the contrary, reducing the risk of accidents by 8 times. These figures are likely to apply to other sectors of the economy, which face the need to continually monitor businesses on a regular basis. Thus, within the scope of environmental monitoring, drones detected 4 times more violations while the same number of employees were working at the facilities.
It makes sense that in the field of surveying and cadastral registration, drones greatly facilitate the execution of routine tasks. According to some estimates, the cost of doing business is reduced by 20% when using civilian UAVs. At the same time, it is often possible to notice areas that are not accidentally registered in the cadastral register. It should also be noted that Western satellite operators are now extremely reluctant to provide information to Russian companies, and the capabilities of the domestic satellite constellation are limited.
Due to their massive nature and relatively low cost, civilian UAVs can be used to obtain data on the current state of the land.
Large Russian companies, whose activities are somehow connected with logistics, are now actively evaluating the possibilities of using UAVs. There are large regions in Russia where overland delivery is extremely difficult due to natural conditions, lack of terrain or transport infrastructure. The use of UAVs will allow enterprises to enter previously inaccessible areas, as well as areas where activities are unprofitable due to the need to use expensive manned equipment.
Currently, drones are being developed that can take on the transport of heavy industrial loads. A cargo UAV model that can travel up to 900 km at a speed of 210 km / h was introduced by Aeromax. It is likely that over time, medical UAVs adapted to the needs of the air ambulance will be introduced to the market.
Civil unmanned aerial vehicles will be implemented in mega cities. Now drones are being tested by companies like Russian Post and Rusdronoport. They are evaluating the effectiveness of drone ports-mail lockers. An automatic covered surface is provided on such a device and the parcels are received automatically. The weight of the load can be up to 10 kg. Using package locker drones could potentially be a solution to the last mile delivery problem traditionally considered to be the most time-consuming and costly.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.