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- "In the next 5-10 years, drone delivery of goods and orders from marketplaces will become a common practice"
"In the next 5-10 years, drone delivery of goods and orders from marketplaces will become a common practice"
In the next 5-10 years, drones will be used in Russia to deliver small goods, mail and orders through marketplaces, the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, told Izvestia. Today, the republic is actively involved in the development of the UAV industry: for example, work is underway to create the Polyarny scientific center. Drones capable of withstanding low temperatures in the conditions of the polar night, which is up to -60 °C, will be produced at this site. In addition to civilian drones, a defense order is being executed in Yakutia: a new batch of UAVs is currently being prepared for shipment to the free zone. About how the unmanned industry is developing in the region - in an interview with Aisen Nikolaev "Izvestia".
"The work of drones can bring breakthrough solutions"
— The Republic became one of the first regions of the Far East to begin the large-scale use of drones. What is the strategic goal of this work — to create your own competencies, export technologies, or solve internal problems? And how does federal funding affect these plans?
— The use of unmanned aircraft systems in Yakutia began quite a long time ago — back in 2011, when such equipment was just appearing. Back then, drones were mainly used by the rescue service.
Aisen Nikolaev, Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Later, the direction began to develop actively. Today, we have set strategic goals for decades to come: a new economic industry is being formed related to the use of drones.
We are talking about creating a market for services related to cargo delivery, creating the necessary infrastructure and training personnel.
It is already clear that the work of drones can bring breakthrough solutions, especially in the delivery of goods to hard-to-reach settlements.
We are discussing this, in particular, with the Russian Post. This includes work on forest fires — not only on their detection, as it is happening today, but also on extinguishing, search and rescue, monitoring and various issues related to land relations. Agrodrons can be actively used there. And the federal funds received will significantly accelerate the development of unmanned technologies in Yakutia.
— The federal budget has allocated more than 550 million rubles for the development of unmanned systems in Yakutia. What results should the region achieve by the end of 2025 so that Yakutia can prove itself as a competent region in the field of unmanned technologies?
— It is important to understand that this federal subsidy has a strictly targeted value — it is aimed at creating a research and production center for testing and competence in the development of technologies for unmanned aircraft systems, polar, which should be created in Yakutia. The funds were provided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia as part of a federal project.
By the end of the year, according to the agreements reached, we must complete equipping the center with equipment and put it into operation. This is exactly the essence of the agreement we signed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
— Earlier it was reported that Yakutia has supplied more than 1.5 thousand drones of the Sakha Drone company to its zone, which has already launched a training program for UAV operators. Is the possibility of a larger-scale participation of Yakut enterprises in the implementation of the defense order being considered?
— Yes, the republic has already supplied about 1.5 thousand drones, and a new batch is being prepared. Theoretically, we can produce up to 3 thousand devices per month. However, you need to understand that a defense order is a complex system with its own requirements and procedures. The company operates under existing orders from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Ministry for the Development of the Far East. If there is an additional order, we are ready to fulfill it.
"Yakutia is a natural natural testing ground for equipment in harsh climates"
— Yakutia Technopark will become a key infrastructure partner of the project. How will the interaction between the scientific and production center (NPC) Polyarny and the technopark be built? Are there plans to create startup companies based on it that will manufacture components and develop software in order to close the technological chain within the republic?
— The Polyarny Scientific and Production Center is being created as a separate division of the Yakutia Technopark, that is, it will not be a separate structure, but will become part of the technopark. Accordingly, the Technopark acts as the management company of the NPC. There will be residents inside the technopark who will be able to conclude agreements and work in the field of unmanned aircraft systems.
For example, we consider Geoscan, one of the largest Russian companies, as a potential anchor resident of the technopark in the field of unmanned technologies. In the future, Polyarny should become an incubator for startups, providing them with access to the production infrastructure that we will create by the end of the year.
— You have repeatedly stressed the project's focus on domestic developments. Does the Yakut experience allow us not only to replace foreign analogues, but also to form our own production chains, from creating frost—resistant components to training operators? What specific research is planned to be conducted at the NPC and how will personnel training be organized for the industry?
— As you know, the variety of climatic conditions in Russia requires a special approach to production tasks. It is their solution that the NPC Polyarny will be aimed at. In general, 48 research and production centers should be established in the country by 2030, if I am not mistaken, and Polyarny is one of them. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that drones successfully flying in the central part of Russia cannot work in our conditions — in severe frosts, the equipment simply turns into scrap metal or into a piece of plastic, depending on what it is made of.
Our task is not just to use ready—made models, but to adapt them to Arctic and extreme climatic conditions so that they can operate at temperatures up to –50-60 ° C, in the conditions of the polar night and have a large reserve of flight life, because the distance between our settlements sometimes exceeds hundreds of kilometers, which must be flown without landings.
The center should become a scientific laboratory and a testing ground where materials, technologies and software solutions necessary for the reliable operation of drones will be tested. This makes Yakutia stand out: we are a natural testing ground for equipment in a harsh climate and we must take advantage of this advantage.
As for personnel training, the need is huge: thousands of specialists are needed — operators, engineers, technicians. We need an aviation training center where they will teach how to control unmanned systems and develop joint programs that will allow us to implement various scenarios for the use of the same drones: when extinguishing fires, for example.
It is necessary to conduct classes, including with cadets of flight schools, in order to train operators of large-scale unmanned aerial vehicles. Today, these are no longer just drones, but full-fledged unmanned helicopters and even airplanes. There are already talks about securing An-2 class aircraft. Therefore, the qualifications of personnel who maintain and manage such systems should be extremely high.
In the future, the center should become a place where manufacturers from all over the country — and possibly from abroad - will come to test their equipment and obtain a kind of "Arctic certificate" confirming the suitability of equipment for use in extreme conditions.
"In the next 5-10 years, drone cargo delivery will become a common practice"
— If we look ahead, what role will drones play in the life of an ordinary resident of Yakutia? Will the delivery of goods by drone become as common a practice as today calling a taxi or the possibility of emergency delivery of medicines to remote villages?
— I am sure that in the next 5-10 years, the delivery of goods and the same orders from marketplaces by drones will become a common practice, especially for hard-to-reach territories. The payload capacity of drones and unmanned aircraft systems will increase. For example, I believe that very soon unmanned airships will take to the air, which will occupy a niche between large aircraft and small drones that can carry several kilograms. Because airships can already carry half a ton, and in the future up to a ton — just what is needed to deliver goods to remote villages, including in the Arctic.
In addition, drones will be used to deliver small shipments, mail, and orders through marketplaces. Medicine is especially important: sometimes a person's life depends on the speed of delivery of a small amount of drugs, even the same ampoule, for example, with some rare medicine. The ability to deliver the medicine within a couple of hours instead of several dozen hours can be crucial.
Well, I would like to emphasize once again that forest fire extinguishing is a very serious problem for Yakutia. Drones are already actively used to detect them. New technologies and devices should be developed here to extinguish most fires at an early stage using drones. This is a realistic prospect for the next 5-10 years.
— Can you tell us about the Air Ferry service between Yakutsk and Nizhny Bestyakh, which was launched this summer? What is the demand for the service, the economics of the project, and when will the pilot be able to achieve self-sufficiency?
— Initially, the Air Ferry project was conceived as a pilot project. Now we can say that it has been successfully implemented.: Several hundred flights have already been completed, and more than half a ton of cargo has been delivered. The service is in demand — there are requests for flights not only to other settlements from Yakutsk, but even within the urban agglomeration.
But here, of course, we need to talk about further study of issues related to payback. So far, the frequency of flights is insufficient to talk about full self-sufficiency. It is necessary to ensure this download. Nevertheless, the project has become a good foundation for further scaling — not only around Yakutsk, but also to other regions of the republic. Today it is already a regular flight, which is carried out in full compliance with the requirements of Rosaeronavigation for the flight of aircraft.
— One of the main constraints for the development of unmanned systems in Russia remains the regulatory framework. What difficulties does the republic face when working with UAVs and how is the dialogue with the federal center being built to eliminate them?
— Indeed, there are regulatory barriers. Most of the current rules have been developed for manned aviation, including obtaining flight permits, certification of equipment, and restrictions on flying unmanned aircraft.
Nevertheless, I think it's justified — you can't just cancel all the requirements and say that drones can fly anytime, anywhere, and at any time. We understand that in today's conditions, and not only in today's conditions, even in the future, it is impossible to talk about this.
The task is to integrate the flights of unmanned systems as correctly as possible into the existing regulatory framework and find solutions that will be correct and acceptable to all.
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