In 2025, Russia achieved significant progress in building the unmanned aircraft industry. The national project "Unmanned Aircraft Systems" that had been launched ceased to be a theoretical initiative and became a real mechanism for technological development — from initial concepts to mass-produced vehicles and trained personnel.
The foundation for the sector's growth was laid through comprehensive state financial support for innovative solutions. Across three key programs, experts selected promising projects and allocated grants ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of rubles. The support system was structured in such a way as to stimulate not only research, but also the advancement of prototypes to industrial readiness.
State funds were not limited to direct subsidies. Startups were offered assistance in preparing investment documents and access to accelerators. In addition, technology competitions involving major industrial enterprises gave developers the opportunity to test solutions against real technical requirements.
Understanding that BAS technologies are unthinkable without professionals, the national project focused its efforts on personnel training. The federal educational initiative was aimed at training more than 11,000 specialists, with the main emphasis placed on practical skills.
Companies producing drones for special and military tasks also demonstrated noticeable progress. As part of the national project, manufacturers accelerated development and brought certain models into mass production, increasing their autonomy, reliability, and resistance to electronic interference. This created a technological reserve for the further development of special-purpose and dual-use drones.
Thanks to the state policy of subsidizing manufacturers and compensating part of the costs when selling drones to end users, the drone market became more accessible to agricultural producers, logistics companies, and construction firms. This created stable demand, which, together with increased production localization, pushed the industry toward establishing a full production cycle.
Current results show that Russia has moved from purchasing imported technologies to independently designing, testing, and serially producing domestic BAS. This contributed to the formation of a mature ecosystem that includes science, business, education, and state regulation.