"Unique" UAV, which was in development for 14 years, crashed in russia
The unmanned aerial vehicle "Altius" (also "Altair"), which has been under development since 2011, crashed in russia. It was performing a test flight, but its navigation system failed.
The russian agency URA reported this with reference to representatives of the "Ural Civil Aviation Plant" (UZCA), which is developing the UAV.
The incident occurred this morning, July 8. The UAV fell on a private residential building in the city of Kazan.
The company told reporters that the cause of the accident was the failure of the satellite navigation system.
"Takeoff from the base airfield was normal. Then, during the flight, unidentified external electronic warfare devices disrupted satellite navigation. The drone continued to fly using the inertial navigation system. For the landing approach, the device had to be diverted to the second circle. The landing was carried out in inertial mode, an emergency situation occurred," the agency quotes UZCA representatives as saying.
Russian media and Telegram channels reported earlier today that the cause of the house fire was the fall of a Cessna 337 Skymaster light-engine aircraft. It allegedly hit a tree with its wing and fell.
The head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, was informed about the fall of the UAV. At the same time, the governor's press service called the drone "civilian" for unknown reasons.
UAV "Altius" ("Altair"). What is known about it
"Altius" is a heavy reconnaissance and strike UAV. Its development began in 2011. Initially, the project was handled by the Simonov Design Bureau (DKB). The customer for the drone was the russian Ministry of Defense.
In 2018, the Altius UAV project was transferred to the Ural Civil Aviation Plant. The reason for this was allegedly that the Simonov DKB failed to cope with the task.
In December 2021, the russian Ministry of Defense announced the completion of testing of the Altius drone.
According to open sources, the Altius UAV has the following characteristics:
- length - 11.6 meters;
- wingspan - 28.5 meters;
- cruising speed - 150-250 kilometers per hour;
- ceiling - 12,000 meters;
- flight range - up to 10,000 kilometers;
- payload - 1,000 kilograms.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in October 2024, the S-70 Okhotnik UAV, a new jet UAV of the russian army, was destroyed in the sky over the Donetsk Region.
In November 2024, the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced that Western components had been discovered in the S-70 Okhotnik UAV.
As a reminder, according to British intelligence, the russians had to shoot down their own S-70 Okhotnik drone because they lost control of it. The occupiers feared that the 10-year-old development could fall into the hands of Ukraine and Western countries.