Belarus, India mull over joint company to make drones

Belarus and India may set up a joint company to develop drones, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Vladimir Gusakov said in an interview to Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.

“There are a lot of orders coming from abroad. The director of the center [of unmanned aerial vehicles based on the Academy of Sciences] is currently in India holding talks to launch a joint venture with India. Indian specialists have studied the drones of a number of foreign manufacturers and give preference mainly to Belarusian developments,” said Vladimir Gusakov.

According to the chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences, Belarusian drones are in demand not only in the domestic market. They have been sold to Vietnam and a number of Central Asian countries. Negotiations were held with Egypt. “Our designs are likely to be delivered there again,” said Vladimir Gusakov.

In his words, a few years ago, before the pandemic, a Belarusian light-class drones ranked third after the United States and France at the international festival in Abu Dhabi.

The unmanned aerial vehicle center at the Academy of Sciences, which has been operating for about 10 years, has developed a wide range of unmanned complexes, from small flying vehicles to aircraft-type vehicles. They can perform different monitoring and military functions.

Vladimir Gusakov stressed that today the production is fully domestic, including microelectronics. According to him, the Academy of Sciences can develop microelectronic means to support unmanned flying complexes.