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Russia Approved Funding for Drone Development Through 2025

But who's going to do the development?
The Tupolev Tu-123, a Soviet Union reconnaissance drone that entered service in 1964. Via Wikipedia

Think drones and robotic soliders are limited to the United States? Of course they aren't. Now Russia, apparently concerned over the speed with which the US has automated its armed forces, is making a push to catch up in the combat robot race.

According to a Russian report, the Russian Ministry of Defense approved funding for the development of combat robots through 2025. That funding is aimed at developing a number of different designs to encompass all types of military objectives. While it may include robots similar to those that DARPA continues to pump out, the smart money is on Russia pushing hard into the drone game. Drone technology is currently fairly mature, and the Russian military shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel to get some drones in the sky.

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Russia's The Independent remains skeptical (Google translated):

The Ministry of Defense in the next 10-12 years is going along with the defense industry to create a series of different combat robots (including reconnaissance and strike), which will replace the personnel in the field, as is done in the armies of the developed world. However, at the moment this type of work is in its infancy - there are problems related to subjective factors and the general technological backwardness of Russia.

There's no doubt that Russia is trying to speed up its development of unmanned systems. "All programs of developing the combat robotic equipment must be sped up approximately two-fold," defense minister Sergei Shoigu said at a Wednesday meeting where he viewed prototypes, according to Xinhua. A Shoigu deputy said that up to 30 percent of the US's combat vehicles will be remote operated by 2020, which apparently is meant to imply that Russia really needs to catch up.

But who's going to do the development? The Independent spoke to Alexei Maximov, the director of a robotic research center at Bauman Moscow State Technical University, who said that robotics work in Russia is "more like a hobby." He notes that, currently, up to 90 percent of parts for robots are imported, including the most advanced systems, like navigation and infrared units, on which there are import restrictions that naturally can hamper the Russian military's development efforts.

It's an interesting peek into Russia's technological capabilities, especially considering that the Soviet Union did interesting work with UAVs in the 60s and 70s. Maximov said that the last 20 years of development in Russia have been conducted poorly, all while the US moved ahead. With the current pace of drone innovation, that's a lot of time to catch up.

H/T to Alexander Olesker

@derektmead