The Russian company, Svyaz-Spetszashchita (Communication-Special Defense), has developed a new drone that can be powered both by batteries and gasoline, the firm’s spokesman Dmitry Zubarev told Sputnik on Tuesday.
The dual-purpose drone (which means it is designed for civilian or military goals) is currently on display at the ongoing military-technical forum Army-2023 in Kubinka outside Moscow.
"As this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is powered by petrol, its maximum flying time is up to six hours, which makes it possible to effectively implement surveillance-related tasks," Zubarev said.
He stressed that the UAV is capable of transporting two smaller attack drones, in what the Svyaz-Spetszashchita spokesman described as a "highly-desired feature nowadays".
"When spotting 'an object of interest', the UAV sends a smaller drone to the area where the object was tracked and returns to the base," Zubarev explained, adding that the UAV is equipped with neural network-based object identification system.
Various attack drones are now widely used by the Russian Armed Forces in the special military operation zone in Ukraine.
UAVs like these, including Russia's Lancet drones, played a significant role in crippling Kiev’s counteroffensive, which, failed to make any sort of progress as tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have already been killed or wounded.