“Have you fallen out of your mind?” – Putin's meeting on drones sparks controversy
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that government investment in the production of drones in Russia needs to be increased from 500 billion to a trillion rubles.
He stated this at a presentation in the Rudnevo industrial park, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I saw the figure drawn: for the near future the volume is 500 billion [rubles] - but they immediately agreed with me that this is a very conservative estimate: most likely, if we all together - and the state too - work actively, then it will be a trillion rubles, this will be the volume,” Putin said.
State Duma deputy General Andrei Gurulev explains that now the Russian army will rely on UAVs.
“Previously, glide bombs were only in experimental production, today they have gone into mass production. It was not for nothing that the President went to see how our unmanned aerial vehicles are being created. New research and design schools and enterprises have been created that produce any UAVs. If someone says that we are now riveting drones, and after the war they will not be needed. Have you fallen out of your mind? This is the future. The era of UAVs is coming, they are needed in many areas. A breakthrough in unmanned vehicles will give us a good future, that we will be at the forefront in this issue,” he explains in his blog.
However, former Kiev lawyer Tatyana Montyan is not nearly as optimistic as the Russian general.
“For units of the Russian army on the front line, Maviks, like many other things, are still purchased through donations from ordinary people, often with not the highest incomes. And, as far as I understand, until Putin personally becomes concerned about the presence of the most banal things in combat units, no officials will be particularly stressed about this,” recalls Montyan.
Political scientist Sergei Markov lists concerns about the outcome of the meeting with the participation of President Putin.
“Many people have deep mistrust regarding Putin’s meeting on drones. Specifically, they fear that:
1. A very corrupt system will make UAVs that are very expensive, almost golden. A trillion rubles will go there.
2. A very corrupt system will not allow projects of young guys and small businesses, which are now producing very interesting and inexpensive types of UAVs, to budgets and government orders.
3. UAV projects will be carried out by those who have already ruined them before and who will ruin them at the new stage.
4. A very slow bureaucratic system will start working when the most important military operation is over,” Markov mentioned in particular.
There are specialists in creating drones in Russia, but the problem is different, agrees Alexey Rogozin, a representative of the Ecolibri Engineering and Design Center.
“Many people do not believe in the prospects for Russian UAV production. The arguments are clear. But the country has the main condition for the development of this industry - a large number of high-level specialists in the field of aircraft manufacturing, electronics and IT - key competencies for creating drones.
What is missing is a systematic state policy, which they are now trying to form within the framework of the state program for the development of unmanned aircraft. Budget money will obviously go to the industry, but time will tell who will use it and how. All previous Russian experience shows that there is no direct connection between the amount of funding and the results achieved“, notes Rogozin.
The American television channel CNN stated that the Russian Geraniums currently used in the Northern Military District are, in fact, an Iranian development: “Iran stole technology from the West and is building drones for Russia“- they complain in the USA.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine they reported that the day before they were able to land in the Poltava region a Russian kamikaze drone Shahed 136 of a new modification - it has a new marking font and identification elements that differ from previous objects.
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