OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2009. The Physics and Technology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus has designed the country’s first ultralight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for video monitoring of areas and objects, head of the complex systems and materials modelling lab of the institute Yuri Yatsyna said.

Powered by electricity for virtually noiseless flight, the UAV utilises the latest technologies in the area of precision mechanics as well as optimum solutions in control and optics components. It utilises fibrous composite materials and weighs only 2.2kg. The aircraft can travel up to 20 km at over 60 km/h. Video feed is transferred to the control unit on the ground in real time.

The solution is versatile and can be used for predicting emergencies, controlling the state border, monitoring traffic, compiling topographic maps, preventing unsanctioned timber harvesting and poaching in national parks and reserves as well as scientific research.

The UAV is undergoing tests now, but scientists hope it will be put into practice by the end of the year. The Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, traffic police have already shown interest in the aircraft as the difference in production, use and maintenance costs of manned and unmanned aircraft is tremendous.

In the future the Physics and Technology Institute plans to start assembling ultralight, medium and large UAVs. In the near future the scientists plan to design a UAV with the wingspan of 2.2 metres and weight as large as 10 kg using the same model.