Drone operators in Russia will be allowed not to pay the air navigation fee until 2028

The Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) is going to set rates for air navigation services for drones on the horizon of 2028-2029. This was announced on May 15 by the head of the department Dmitry Yadrov at the HeliRussia helicopter industry exhibition.

"We have already prepared all the changes to the legal acts, but for now the issue is on pause," Dmitry Yadrov said.

The difficulties in the development of the industry and the still insufficient profitability of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) do not yet allow them to be put on a broad commercial track.

According to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, cargo delivery is in many ways more profitable to carry out by helicopters. However, there are areas of the market where UAS will find application. This is an aviation chemical treatment for the needs of agriculture.

"Just yesterday we met with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, and a discussion session was held at the Timiryazev Academy," Dmitry Yadrov said.

The Ministry of Agriculture considers unmanned aircraft to be one of the key areas of development, because it sees much lower costs in it, including for navigation services. The agency is ready to limit the use of manned aircraft in favor of UAS, said the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency.

Forestry is also showing interest in drones. With the commercialization of unmanned systems, the issue of fees from their operators will be raised. This will happen on the horizon of 2028-29, says the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency.

Flight project: the most promising developments of unmanned aircraft systems are named

Which projects will receive grants worth 2.3 billion rubles

On May 14, it became known that Russia has begun mass production of a smaller version of the Geranium drones, which are massively used during a special military operation. This is a small Tyuvik drone, which looks similar to the famous long-range kamikaze drone. It was noted that the new devices are almost impossible to jam with electronic warfare (EW).