Russia looks to build seven-tonne convertiplane for military

PanARMENIAN.Net - The mass of a remote-controlled convertiplane being created in Russia may weigh as much as seven tonnes, TASS cited the CEO of the Kronshtadt Group, Armen Isaakian as saying ahead of the Army-2017 military-technical forum.

"The five-tonne model is a plane-type drone. The dimensions of a future convertiplane will be determined by the market niche where the demand for it will be the greatest. We are conducting research at the moment. From the technical point of view we believe it is feasible to create a two-tonne drone and a seven-tonne one, but apparently it would be feasible to start from a functional model with a mass of 500-1,000 kilograms," he said.

Isaakian described creation of an aircraft having the speed and range of a plane and flexible uses of a helicopter (vertical takeoff and landing capability) as the Holy Grail of modern aircraft designers.

"It is not necessarily going to be an unmanned aircraft. The main economic effect will be achieved if the helicopter’s maximum range of flight without refueling is exceeded three-four times. At the moment the practical range of a helicopter-type of aircraft is no greater than 300-400 kilometers. In our country with its vast territory the desirable radius is no less than 1,000 kilometers," Isaakian said, adding that a vertical takeoff plane did possess such a capability.

The commander of Russia’s Aerospace Force, Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev, said earlier that both convertiplanes and heavy drones were being developed for the military. He believes that future drones will be integrated within one system of control and operate as a team. Creation of such a network-centric system would help save costs of training drone operators," Bondarev said.

The United States currently uses different configurations of the convertiplane V-22 Osprey. Japan reportedly has the intention to purchase such drones from the United States.