Putin's Remarks on Unmanned Systems, Not Just Combat Drones

A driverless taxi in foreground and driverless metro train in background.

Russia sees automation as a way to free workers to perform other more important tasks instead of a way to increase profits by cutting the workforce. This is easier for Russia to do because of its extremely low unemployment rate and demand for skilled labor. China has a similar philosophy but lacks the low unemployment rate which makes further automation a higher social challenge. However, there are tasks automated systems are better at some of which will be discussed. The Kremlin readout gives us a synopsis of what transpired prior to the meeting:

Before the meeting, Vladimir Putin visited an exhibition on unmanned technologies at the metro depot.

The Head of State got acquainted with Moscow’s achievements in the field of urban autonomous systems. The President was shown the unmanned Lion tram and the unmanned Moscow-2024 metro train. The capital is developing an intelligent traffic management system, unmanned aerial monitoring of real estate and forest fire conditions. Drones are used to create and update the digital model (”twin”) of Moscow.

At the Autonomous Systems in Transport stand, the President was presented with unmanned trucks, copters, robo-taxis, and delivery robots from domestic companies. Starting from March 1, 2026, a unified system based on the ERA-GLONASS system will be responsible for monitoring all civilian UAVs. Unmanned tractors, harvesters, and aerial agricultural drones are being introduced in agriculture. Vladimir Putin was also informed about the use of drones in the fields of natural resources and ecology, trade, and industry.

Unfortunately, the full meeting’s discussion isn’t provided, so we’ll need to read deeper into Putin’s oratory to get an idea of what the deeper discussion entailed:

Opening remarks at a meeting on the development of autonomous systems

V. Putin: Good evening, dear colleagues!

Today, our agenda includes the issues of accelerated and advanced development of the national industry of unmanned and autonomous technologies. We are talking about a wide range of transport, industrial, and service systems that are still under external control and can be operated by humans, while some of them can operate completely independently in all environments: on land, in the air, in water, and in space.

At the exhibition, we just got acquainted with a whole range of such advanced products and discussed various scenarios for their use, including precision farming (Oksana Nikolaevna [Lut] spoke about it), forest protection (Alexander Alexandrovich [Kozlov] also reported), cargo delivery, construction, urban management, and security.

It must be said directly: it is impressive–-both the boldness and the diversity of the designers’ proposals, and the way the technologies they have created radically change the life around us, forming a real economy of autonomous systems. It is natural that this topic is now at the center of attention of all leading countries, largely determining their competitiveness in the civilian and defense sectors.

We understand this very well. That’s why, a year ago–-we were just talking about this with our colleagues–-at a meeting in Tolyatti, we made decisions that paved the way for the widespread use of civilian drones, which are essential for the development of unmanned transport in our country in all environments. We also held [that meeting] at the beginning of the year.

I repeat, important steps have been taken, but in some areas we are still significantly behind some other countries. For example, in some cities around the world, unmanned taxis are no longer just part of individual experiments but are being used on a large scale to transport passengers. More importantly, several countries have achieved full sovereignty in the production of all components for autonomous vehicles. It is clear that we have the scientific, human, and industrial potential to become global leaders in the development, production, and, of course, widespread adoption of autonomous systems.

These key technologies, along with digital platforms and artificial intelligence, are shaping the future of the world, and the successful implementation of our most important plans and initiatives will certainly depend on them. This was also discussed at the recent Council on Strategic Development and National Projects.

I would like to repeat once again that the introduction of autonomous and unmanned solutions is not a fashion, but a necessity, a way to strengthen our country’s global competitiveness, to address the challenges of a scarce labor market and demographic issues, and to ensure the security and sovereignty of Russia.

In this regard, the first thing I would like to draw your attention to is the following. I would like to ask the Presidential Administration and the Government to submit proposals on improving the efficiency of managing the development of the national autonomous systems industry. These proposals are intended to establish close coordination between the relevant ministries, agencies, federal subjects, technology companies, and scientific organizations.

Second. I also ask the Government to prepare action plans for the introduction of unmanned technologies in key sectors of the economy. We are talking about increasing labor productivity and improving the quality of life of people. In particular, such systems should replace low-skilled and dangerous labor and contribute to the formation of a high-wage economy. Now our colleagues have also told us about this in detail. Of course, releasing people from low-productivity work, frankly, low-prestige, and low-paid-this will lead to the release of labor and the ability to send people to other areas of work.

I would like to draw the attention of the meeting participants and all my colleagues in the Government to the fact that we need to move faster from experiments and testing to the widespread use of autonomous solutions. We need to not just take control but lead this work–-when I say “we,” I mean the Administration [of the President], the Government of the Russian Federation, and the heads of the country’s regions.

It is necessary to build qualitatively new technological and business processes in the industries based on the use of unmanned systems, and to help entrepreneurs select ready-made advanced solutions. And of course, it is important to assess the needs of the economy’s sectors for drones, both in terms of volume and their characteristics, so that the technology business understands the medium-term prospects of the market and plans investments and production expansion. In turn, the Government needs to continue removing administrative barriers without delay, which hinder the fastest and safest implementation of autonomous solutions in the economy’s sectors. We also discussed this at the last meeting a year ago.

Third. The constituent entities of the Federation play a crucial role in the development of the unmanned systems economy. I ask the governors to use the existing rules for regulating the flights of civilian drones more confidently. For example, in 2025, a new class of airspace was introduced for civilian drones throughout the country. This opens up new opportunities for the regions to use unmanned aviation. It is important to act responsibly, carefully, and promptly.

We should also implement the best practices of Moscow, which is currently the undisputed leader in creating an economy of unmanned systems, in other regions of the Federation. I ask Sergei Semyonovich Sobyanin to establish a mechanism for sharing experience with colleagues from other regions in terms of using data processing systems, autonomous solutions, and artificial intelligence, including for improving the quality of passenger transportation. This is an important social aspect of using advanced technologies.

Fourth. Experimental legal regimes are already in place in Moscow, the Moscow Region, the federal territory of Sirius, and Sakhalin. Last year, we decided to extend these regimes to all our regions in the Far East. The purpose of these tools is to test innovations and then make changes to national legislation as quickly as possible, adapting it to the ongoing transformation in technology and society. In today’s environment, those who are among the first to address this challenge will secure leadership in creating an economy based on unmanned systems.

Based on the experience already gained, it is necessary to immediately introduce into the legal field not only large autonomous transport, but even small devices, such as delivery robots, to organize the certification of various types of unmanned systems, to establish exhaustive, unambiguous and measurable requirements and standards for them, to develop approaches to determining responsibility for the actions, and in certain cases, for inaction of drones in the course of transport incidents. Of course, the task is not easy (addressing the Minister of Internal Affairs V. Kolokoltsev), but this is definitely something that we need to do, Vladimir Alexandrovich.

I would like to emphasize that all these steps should be implemented with a clear understanding of the ultimate goal, which is to increase the use of autonomous systems in all areas of life by orders of magnitude or even tenfold. Therefore, it is a mistake to put barriers or obstacles in the way of technological development or to avoid making decisions based on the principle of “better safe than sorry.”

At the same time, special attention should be paid to security issues. In particular, it is necessary to prevent unauthorized access to the management of autonomous systems, as well as to the data that they transmit and receive. It is crucial to support relevant scientific and engineering projects in the field of cybersecurity. This area is actively developing, and I am confident that there are solutions available.

Next. It is necessary to actively form a legal basis for end-to-end management of autonomous objects through satellites, near space–-and (the head of Roscosmos also reported on this today) such opportunities also exist. This year, it is necessary to adopt amendments to the regulatory framework, as well as other regulatory documents, and it is necessary to take technological measures that are required for the early introduction of end-to-end identification of unmanned systems in all environments, as well as their real-time monitoring.

This is the first, but fundamental, step towards creating a system for simultaneously controlling any number of autonomous objects. In other words, we are consistently moving towards a seamless “digital sky” where drones, unmanned ground and water vehicles, and spacecraft are integrated into a single network and exchange information, transmit, and process vast amounts of data.

In this regard, I consider it necessary to form a holistic, comprehensive legal regulation for the use of autonomous systems in a short period of time. I ask the Government to address this issue and work on it with the participation of experts and, of course, the business community.

Dear colleagues!

In our country, as well as around the world, there is a real revolution taking place in the field of transportation. In terms of its scale, it is similar to the technological and infrastructure shift that occurred at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Back then, Russia made tremendous strides in its development, primarily through the construction of railway lines, the development of its fleet, and other transportation systems. Prominent Russian scientists and engineers played a significant role in addressing these challenges.

Today, we also need to form a national industry of unmanned transport on a sovereign technological and production platform, relying on our own scientific and engineering schools, including in the fields of microelectronics, new materials, and optics. As we have agreed, we will definitely meet and discuss microelectronics separately in the near future. We need to create comfortable and convenient conditions for Russian businesses to increase production of both drones and their components. Moreover, the components should be more standardized and applicable to different types of autonomous systems.

It is also extremely important to create a full range of domestic technologies and products in the field of communication and navigation for the full-scale space and ground-based autonomous object control system that I have already mentioned.

I would like to draw the attention of the Government and Roscosmos to the fact that we are talking about truly advanced technologies that will allow us to use various radio frequency bands, provide the necessary level, speed, and coverage of the signal, and transmit it with minimal delays. Projects that are already being implemented in this area should be provided with comprehensive support by the domestic business.

It is crucial that our domestic engineers set the tasks and write the algorithms for drones. This is a significant factor in ensuring their safety. Therefore, in order to develop autonomous systems in all environments, we also need to have sovereign artificial intelligence technologies, especially in the rapidly developing generative field. This includes national fundamental language models. We will discuss the plan for their creation and implementation in the near future, with the participation of domestic technological and high-tech businesses.

Next. The development of unmanned systems, as well as solutions in the field of artificial intelligence, requires a serious review of the mechanisms for training personnel, including in the fields of transport, logistics, and passenger and cargo transportation. Given the future needs for specialists with new qualifications, the Government must make comprehensive decisions, including the development of new and the modification of existing educational standards and programs. We constantly talk about this, but we need to take concrete steps in this direction.

This is another important topic that I would like to focus on today. I ask the Government, together with the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, to create additional opportunities for veterans and injured military personnel to participate in the development, production, and operation of autonomous systems. The experience, knowledge, and skills of our soldiers and heroes, including the pilots of combat drones who have successfully defeated and continue to defeat enemy equipment, should be put to good use in civilian life and on the front lines of technological progress. It is also necessary to remove the remaining administrative barriers and clearly outdated regulatory requirements. Here, I ask the Presidential Administration, together with the Ministry of Defense and the security forces, to think through all of this and implement it as quickly as possible.

Dear colleagues!

To create a truly powerful, cost-effective industry of unmanned systems, we need to increase the export of such advanced products and enter world markets. And this global market is very large. We are expected there, I assure you, I just know about it. Everyone–-our friends, our partners–-tells us about it. Among the most important steps is to make customs and other procedures as comfortable as possible for national companies, so that they can withstand tough competition with foreign manufacturers. Please make appropriate decisions as soon as possible.

Along with the development of exports, we need to create a joint, common drone industry with our friendly partners, build turnkey drone industries in friendly countries, and establish enterprises, training centers, and infrastructure for drone operations in those countries.

I would like to note that the issues of cooperation in the field of unmanned systems were also discussed at a special international forum in Moscow last August. We will significantly expand its capabilities and hold the International Transport and Logistics Forum in St. Petersburg in April this year, where we will focus on supporting young engineers, robot creators, and civilian autonomous transport systems in all environments. This should be a significant contribution by Russia to supporting talented young people from around the world. There is a demand for such joint work.

Let’s continue our work. Please give the floor to Andrey Sergeyevich Nikitin. Thank you. [My Emphasis]

There’s no standing still technologically in today’s world if you want your nation to be competitive in the global marketplace. And those nations need an industrial base capable of designing and making all components. And of course, they need to have the trained personnel to do all the work. I’ll admit to being thrilled when I was allowed to first drive a tractor, but it got old rather fast as there was really very little to do until you reached the end of the furrows and needed to turn around. Of course, that’s only one example of many. Putin’s correct to focus on the legal and safety aspects of this emerging industry and its applications. China’s developing what it calls the Low Altitude Economy that will probably be hard to replicate elsewhere because China’s urban regions can make it sensible. Smart city grids are becoming the basis for such autonomous systems. I’d like to know what Roscosmos told Putin; Mr. Bakanov, Roscosmos Director, was present at the meeting. We see yet another example of technology developed for military uses revolutionizing civilian industry—the number of spin-offs is amazing. And it’s bringing about these technologies far sooner than otherwise. There were several future forums mentioned that merit attention when they commence. Russian government at all levels has many tasks assigned to them and more were just added. Clearly, there’s no room for lollygagging ministers or foot-dragging local officials.

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