Drones in Utilities: Uncrewed Aircraft Become “Digital Inspectors” of Utility Networks
Uncrewed aerial systems are no longer an exotic technology for Russia’s utilities sector. Today they are a working tool that monitors thousands of kilometers of power lines and heating pipelines in real time, preventing outages and saving millions in public funds.
Drones Reshape Utility Operations
The technological shift is unfolding now, with its epicenters in regions facing extreme conditions, including Yakutia, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Sverdlovsk Region, where continuous oversight of power transmission lines and heat networks is especially critical.
The core change is the transition from manual, labor-intensive, and high-risk monitoring to automated inspection. Traditional approaches, such as ground patrols or costly helicopter surveys, are giving way to regular and precise aerial inspections. This is particularly important for hard-to-reach areas of taiga and the Arctic, where logistics are complex and workforce shortages are most acute. A single drone flight can replace multiple ground deployments, significantly accelerating response times.
Modern drones equipped with visible-spectrum and infrared cameras, along with thermal imaging systems, can detect issues at an early stage. These include mechanical damage, thermal anomalies, and external threats, such as vegetation encroachment or the dangerous proximity of construction equipment.
Such diagnostics help prevent large-scale incidents, including power line failures due to wear or fires caused by overheating equipment. The Kanatokhod robotic system developed by Laboratoriya Budushchego (Laboratory of the Future) can not only diagnose problems but also perform minor maintenance tasks, such as removing ice from power lines without shutting down electricity supply.
Rapid Industry Expansion
Experts agree that within the next three to five years, drone-based inspections will become standard practice for maintaining utility networks across Russia. Key development vectors include deeper integration of artificial intelligence, moving from basic defect detection to predictive analytics that forecast potential equipment failures. Another direction is equipping drones with new sensors, including gas analyzers and LiDAR, for comprehensive monitoring of urban environments. Russian solutions have already demonstrated effectiveness in the Middle East and Southeast Asia and could find demand in other markets with harsh climatic conditions.
Drone Adoption Gains Momentum
The adoption of drones in Russia’s energy and utilities sectors has been a gradual process rather than a sudden leap, gaining traction over the past decade.
As early as 2015, companies specializing in aerial surveying inspected more than 12,000 kilometers of power lines, demonstrating the technology’s effectiveness. By 2018, drone usage had become a corporate initiative among major grid operators.
Later, the focus shifted from simple aerial imaging to integrated hardware and software solutions. In 2021, RosElektronika, part of the Rostec state corporation, completed acceptance testing of an uncrewed system designed for autonomous power line monitoring.
By the mid-2020s, drone deployment had become standard practice among leading companies. Rosseti implemented hardware and software platforms with neural networks for automated analysis of thousands of images, cutting network inspection costs by 64 percent.
A New Baseline for Utilities
The technology has evolved from a niche inspection tool into a core element of the digital infrastructure supporting critical industries, creating a new market for high-tech utility services.
Drone deployment in utilities is no longer an experiment but a proven element of digital transformation. These technologies enable a shift from reactive outage response to preventive maintenance, saving time and resources while ensuring uninterrupted operation of critical infrastructure. Drones are already demonstrating that the future of utilities lies in intelligent, autonomous, and safe monitoring.
