Russian General Refuses to Accept Russian UAVs
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Posted
by Christina Mackenzie at
11/30/2009 8:55 AM CST
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Russia's air force is refusing to buy domestically-manufactured unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) because they do not meet performance specifications, General Alexander Zelin, commander in chief of the air force said on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we haven't managed to make UAVs that meet the technical and tactical specifications that we need,” he said.
The general added that the Russian-made UAVs were unsatisfactory both because of their speed and flight altitude, but also because of the quality of the observation equipment aboard. “To put such drones into service is simply a crime,” he said. “I am, therefore, refusing to sign any acceptance papers.”
The Russian army currently has first generation UAVs which can fulfill reconnaissance missions.
Russia recently bought 12 UAVs from Israel in a deal worth $53 million. Zelin said the Israeli UAVs were better quality and performed better than the Russian-made ones but said he doubted Tel-Aviv would be willing to transfer its know-how in this field to Moscow to enable Russian manufacturers to build better UAVs themselves.
