Russian Government Extends Experimental Legal Framework for Agricultural Drones
The program will now remain in effect through 2029.
Russia’s government has extended the experimental legal framework governing agricultural drone operations through 2029, a move designed to attract more companies to test high-tech unmanned systems under simplified regulatory conditions. The updated program also significantly expands the geography of the pilot zones. The agricultural drone initiative now additionally covers the Kaliningrad, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Chelyabinsk, and Omsk regions, as well as Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The government has also rolled back several regulatory requirements. Drones with a maximum takeoff weight of up to 300 kilograms and a flight range of no more than five kilometers will no longer be required to install remote identification systems. Regulators concluded that the systems are ineffective at the low altitudes where many agricultural drones operate. Sanitary restrictions were also eased substantially: the minimum distance between populated areas and drone-treated fields has been reduced from two kilometers to 700 meters. Authorities also eliminated several infrastructure requirements that officials described as excessive.
