22:35, 17 January 2026

Russia’s ERA-GLONASS System Says It Can Track Up to One Million Drones

Russia’s state-run ERA-GLONASS platform is technically ready to monitor up to one million civilian drones at once—across air, land, and water—positioning itself as core infrastructure for the country’s unmanned future.

Russia’s government-operated ERA-GLONASS system is capable of real-time monitoring of up to one million civilian unmanned vehicles, including aerial, ground, and maritime drones. The announcement was made by Aleksey Raykevich, CEO of GLONASS JSC.

Raykevich made the statement while briefing Vladimir Putin at an exhibition of unmanned systems in Moscow. According to him, a unified identification system built on the ERA-GLONASS platform has already been created and is ready for industrial-scale deployment.

“A unified identification system based on the state information platform ERA-GLONASS is now technologically ready for online monitoring of up to one million civilian unmanned vehicles in all environments—on land, on water, and in the air,” Raykevich said.

According to Raykevich, the system will transmit real-time data on drone flights and ownership to government authorities.

“This transparency will open the sky to commercial applications and stimulate the development of the industry,” he said.

Technically, the approach mirrors how aviation and ground transport are regulated today. Each unmanned vehicle transmits data on its location, route, and operational status into a centralized system. That information is aggregated into a single database, allowing regulators to see where a specific drone is operating and on what legal basis. The same logic is now being extended to unmanned systems.

Built With Room to Scale

Raykevich noted that ERA-GLONASS was designed from the outset with scalability in mind. Its infrastructure can support a growing number of autonomous vehicles as the market expands.

At present, all 95 autonomous freight trucks operating in Russia are already connected to the system. ERA-GLONASS is also used to monitor uncrewed surface vessels currently deployed in the Sakhalin Region.

Russia’s Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin has previously said that a unified identification system is needed not only for monitoring. According to him, it would also help protect unmanned vehicles from cyberattacks and, if necessary, allow for their forced shutdown.

Together, these elements position ERA-GLONASS as a foundational layer for the safe and legal use of unmanned systems across Russia’s economy—turning a navigation platform into a nationwide control backbone for drones, robots, and autonomous transport.

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