The purpose of the trip: the Russian Federation should increase the use of autonomous systems tenfold

The use of unmanned systems in all spheres of life needs to be increased tenfold, Vladimir Putin said on January 16 at a meeting on the development of such technologies. There should be no obstacles in this way, but cybersecurity issues are important. The President instructed to prevent unauthorized access to the management of the systems and the data they transmit. Russia's scientific, human, and industrial potential allows it to become one of the global leaders in the field of unmanned systems development. However, our country is still lagging behind in the creation of autonomous transport, in particular, taxis, the president noted. He instructed to provide conditions for Russian businesses that could increase production of both the drones themselves and their components.

What kind of robot drones were presented to Putin

Vladimir Putin arrived at the Aminyevskoye metro depot in Moscow on January 16. He devoted the entire Friday evening to the development of autonomous and unmanned systems. First of all, the president inspected the exhibition of samples of such civilian vehicles. The head of state was shown the first unmanned Moscow-2026 metro train in Russia. Vladimir Putin, along with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, also personally appreciated the Lion Cub unmanned tram.

The president was also impressed by the innovations in the agricultural sector: Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut showed the head of state the agricultural machines designed to work in the agro-industrial complex. Among other things, the president appreciated the unmanned boat, robots with the functions of a cleaner, consultant and courier.

Then the president held a meeting on the development of autonomous systems and admitted that he was impressed by the samples he saw. The Head of State instructed to immediately introduce small unmanned devices, such as delivery robots, into the legal field. However, cybersecurity issues are equally important: it is necessary to prevent unauthorized access to the management of systems and to the data they transmit and receive. To do this, he offered to support relevant scientific and engineering projects in the field.

— We need to increase the use of autonomous systems in all spheres of life by orders of magnitude, tenfold. Therefore, putting barriers in the way of technology development or refusing to make decisions based on the principle of "whatever happens" is a wrong direction, frankly speaking. This behavior is unacceptable. At the same time, special attention should certainly be paid to security issues," he stressed.

Vladimir Putin also instructed his administration and the government to submit proposals to increase the efficiency of managing the development of the autonomous systems industry. This will help improve the coordination of ministries, departments, federal subjects, technology companies and scientific organizations.

Trusting relations: Russia is ready for dialogue with the EU and creation of a new security system

At a meeting with the ambassadors, Putin assessed the situation on the world stage that had developed by the beginning of the year.

How is the field of unmanned systems developing in Russia

Unmanned systems will help replace low-skilled and dangerous labor, as well as create a high-wage economy, Vladimir Putin believes. In addition, he called for more active involvement of his veterans in the development of unmanned systems, since their experience, knowledge and skills, including pilots of combat drones, should be in demand in peaceful life — at the forefront of technological progress.

— The introduction of autonomous, unmanned solutions into life is, of course, not a fashion. This is a necessity, a way to strengthen our country's global competitiveness, to address issues of socio-economic development in the face of a scarce labor market and demographic challenges, and to ensure Russia's security and, therefore, sovereignty," he said.

Russia will have to develop the export of unmanned systems and take its place in a large global market, Vladimir Putin added. According to him, the topic of unmanned vehicles and autonomous systems is in the focus of attention of all leading countries and largely determines their competitiveness in the civil and defense sectors.

So far, our country is lagging behind other countries in certain areas of unmanned systems, in particular, in autonomous transport. Unmanned taxis are already being used en masse in some countries, the president noted. According to Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Saveliev, the introduction of unmanned vehicles into the lives of Russians is a matter of time and relevance.

— We are creating groundwork, and business must respond here. All our stories are related to development, and this is business. In other words, businesses should use, provide services, and do some other projects related to unmanned vehicles. Then it will develop faster. But the whole world is moving in this trend, so we are not lagging behind here, but we are not yet in the leading positions," he told Izvestia.

Vladimir Putin believes that Russia's scientific, human, and industrial potential is sufficient to become one of the global leaders in the development, production, and widespread adoption of autonomous systems. The Head of State instructed to provide comfortable, convenient conditions so that Russian businesses could increase production of both the drones themselves and their components.