Agricultural Drones Set for Testing at Dedicated Test Sites
Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture will create a network of test sites where unmanned and autonomous technologies for agriculture will be tested under real-world production conditions.
Russia continues to systematically develop the design, manufacturing, deployment analysis and performance assessment of unmanned and autonomous technologies for crop production. On Sept. 3, 2026, a meeting chaired by Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut focused on measures to improve agricultural machinery that operates without a driver or pilot.
Comprehensive Assessment of Unmanned Systems
To successfully modernize agricultural machinery that operates without direct human involvement, it is necessary to assess not only its technical specifications but also its performance under the demanding conditions of real-world production. Specialized test sites will be established for this purpose, where agricultural drones and unmanned ground equipment will undergo comprehensive performance assessments.
The network will be built around state machine-testing stations and educational and experimental farms operated by agricultural universities. The project will involve the Timiryazev Academy, as well as state agricultural universities in St. Petersburg, Kazan, the Stavropol region, Yekaterinburg (the Ural State Agrarian University), Omsk and Blagoveshchensk (the Far Eastern State Agrarian University), along with the Transbaikal branch of Irkutsk State Agrarian University. These institutions have substantial technological capabilities and are located in different climate zones, while specializing in different crops. That combination will make it possible to develop equipment capable of operating across all Russian regions.
Experts from the machine-testing stations will work on the reliability, safety, accuracy, productivity and quality of unmanned equipment operations. University teams of agronomists, engineers, economists and experts in digitalization and artificial intelligence will focus on developing agronomic and digital approaches and analyzing the efficiency of business processes.
A Unique Solution for Every Farm
The test sites are expected to bring together on a single platform unmanned ground equipment, agricultural drones for field monitoring and treatment, communications and navigation systems, machine-vision technologies, and digital services for managing production processes. Different operating scenarios will be tested, ranging from fully autonomous equipment operation to a single operator managing several machines.
The project will produce a digital model for assessing the cost of individual operations and the entire process of field cultivation and harvesting, as well as for analyzing the quality of management decisions. The ultimate goal is to develop a working digital model that will allow farmers to select a unique combination of equipment and operating methods for their farms, taking into account climate conditions, the crops being cultivated and the individual capabilities of each operation.
Concepts for the structure of the test sites and proposals for technology assessment methodologies will be developed in the near future. Practical work at the sites will begin in 2027. The resulting methodologies will be incorporated into the educational programs of agricultural universities. The network will then be expanded to other regions of Russia.
Test sites for assessing and upgrading unmanned and autonomous agricultural equipment could accelerate its adoption across Russia’s agricultural sector. Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said at the Rostki: Russia and China – Mutually Beneficial Cooperation international forum that about 13 million hectares in Russia are expected to be treated using unmanned systems in 2026. Unmanned and autonomous technologies are becoming an important part of the digital transformation of Russian agriculture.
Moreover, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said regions will be assigned targets for the amount of cropland to be treated with agricultural drones and unmanned equipment. “Crop production has significant potential for the use of unmanned technologies. However, we need to work not only on developing new types of equipment, but also on improving the algorithms that control how it operates. This includes through the introduction of artificial intelligence,” Patrushev said.
A Test Site for Agricultural Digitalization
As a result, Russia’s agricultural machinery industry will gain infrastructure for systematic testing of unmanned and autonomous technologies. The Russian IT industry will gain a test environment for assessing the effectiveness of domestic solutions in applied AI, autonomous systems, machine vision, robotics, navigation and digital platforms. The participation of educational and experimental farms operated by agricultural universities will also speed the transition of research developments into industrial use. The project will create infrastructure for testing both machinery and software. At the same time, the ultimate results of agricultural digitalization will be assessed in terms of economic efficiency.
Experts are now discussing the creation of a comprehensive digital unmanned platform for crop production that would manage agricultural drones, autonomous tractors and combines performing different tasks at different stages of production. This could significantly increase grain production in Russia and reduce production costs, allowing the country to expand export volumes.
Unmanned agricultural machinery is also becoming an export product. Leading Russian companies are already supplying such equipment abroad. Rostselmash exports machinery equipped with autonomous technologies to Africa. The Agrosignal digital platform developed by Infobiz is used in Kazakhstan and Belarus. Cognitive Pilot supplies its Cognitive Agro Pilot systems to countries in Latin America, the Asian region, the United States and Canada. Nikita Gusakov, senior vice president of the Russian Export Center (REC), part of the VEB.RF Group, said REC will support exports of unmanned agricultural equipment using all available instruments.
