Military drones to patrol Russian Arctic
© RIA Novosti. Alexey Kudenko

Military drones to patrol Russian Arctic

The Russian Ministry of Defense is planning to use drones to patrol skies over the Russian Arctic, including the Northern Sea Route, the Arctic-Info news agency reports.

"Military drones are now used during the day and at night to patrol the coastal areas of the Pacific and mainland Russia as well as the combat training grounds of the Navy," Roman Martov, a spokesman for the Eastern Military District's press service, told RIA Novosti.

The Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles are capable of staying in the sky for up to 18 hours and sending stable signals from altitudes of up to 5 km.   

The drones will escort ships and perform ice and environmental monitoring in the offshore maritime zone and along the Northern Sea Route.