Drones Join the Front Line of Forest Protection in Russia's Altai Region
The Altai Region has integrated drones into its forest monitoring system to help detect and prevent wildfires in hard-to-reach areas. In 2025, the region received 15 domestically produced Geoskan 801 drones under the national Bespilotnye aviatsionnye sistemy (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) initiative.
Since 2026, the drones have operated alongside ground patrols, conventional aerial surveillance, and satellite monitoring. Their total flight time this year has already exceeded 13 hours. Their main advantage is the ability to quickly gather information from remote areas. In a recent case, a satellite detected a thermal hotspot on an island in the Ozerskoye forestry district that could not be reached by vehicle. A drone rapidly surveyed the site and transmitted the data to emergency responders, allowing the fire to be prevented.
The use of unmanned aircraft systems enables faster inspections of remote forest areas and improves the effectiveness of wildfire response services. Further development of drone technologies is expected to reduce fuel consumption, accelerate wildfire detection, and improve coordination of ground crews during firefighting operations.
