The Tomsk Region will become the first experimental region of Russia, where in 2021 the tests of cargo drones will begin. This was reported by the press service of the regional administration on August 12.
The report says that from 2021 an experimental legal regime will begin to operate in the Tomsk region, allowing to test the delivery of goods weighing up to 500 kg by unmanned drones.
According to the Deputy Governor for Economics Andrei Antonov, the Russian government has chosen the Tomsk Region as the first region in the country where testing of cargo drones will be carried out for three years.
“The prologue to the experiment was the successful development of the Taiga project, which has been implemented in the Tomsk region since 2018 in cooperation with the Advanced Research Fund. <...> By the end of the year, we have to develop and agree with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia a roadmap, and from the beginning of 2021 we will start the experiment itself, “Antonov said.
It is planned to transport two types of cargo – social, such as medicines, and industrial – for the needs of oil and gas and other industries.
If the experiment turns out to be successful, then the legal basis for the use of drones for transporting goods will be scaled across the country, the Deputy Governor noted.
In 2018, the implementation of the Taiga project was approved in the Tomsk region. It envisaged the creation in the region of an experimental area for the delivery of goods and the performance of other tasks using unmanned aerial systems. Most of all, enterprises of the oil and gas industry and state administration showed interest in Taiga services. In particular, Tomsk gas workers are interested in detecting tie-ins into oil pipelines and tracking people unauthorizedly staying in protected areas.
On August 10, it was reported about the work of drones in fire-hazardous areas of the Oryol region. Drones can quickly detect a fire and determine its area in real time. Also, unmanned vehicles were sent to Primorye to detect fires.