The Russian Army increased investment to purchase drones

The Russian Army announced the expansion of its aerial fleet with a new generation of Corsair reconnaissance drones as early as the end of 2016.

The Russian Government is continuing to improve the national defense investing in high technological equipment. The Armed Forces is acquiring a new small-class of Corsair drones for surveillence purpose.

Alexander Yakunin, CEO of the Russia’s United Instrument Corporation (UIC), revealed to RIA Novosti agency that his company will start supplying the Corsair surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Russian Armed Forces in late 2016.

“We are currently implementing a big project on the creation of a prospective small-class Corsair UAV and organization of its serial production. The production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and reach its planned capacity before the end of 2017. However, we expect to begin Corsair supplies as early as the end of 2016,” Yakunin said.

Yakunin explained that the development of a new generation of surveillance drones is an element of innovation for the Russian defense industry.”For Russia, this is a brand new industry: no projects at the intersection of the aircraft industry and radio electronics of such a scale were implemented before. The UIC will supply the Defense Ministry with everything it needs regarding the UAVs of this class,” Yakunin said.

“For Russia, this is a brand new industry: no projects at the intersection of the aircraft industry and radio electronics of such a scale were implemented before. Thus UIC will supply the Defense Ministry with everything it needs regarding the UAVs of this class,” Yakunin added.

The Russian Government considers strategic the establishment of a fleet of drones that could be used in military operations, for reconnaissance or air strikes. Earlier in 2014, the Russian Defense Ministry said it would spend nearly $9.2 billion on the acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles by 2020.

A few days ago, the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that just in one year (2014) the Russian Army purchased 179 new drones, which is “almost as many as we received in all the previous years.”

The flexibility of use of drones makes them particularly attractive for military use, for this reason is essential to consider the security aspects of these vehicles.
There are various ways for an attacker to hack a drone, security experts are working with the scientists to develop a new generation of vehicles resilient to cyber attack.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Drones, Russia)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.