Engineers in Russia’s Atomic City Develop a Smart Drone for Crop Growers
A company in Russia’s Penza Region has developed the heavy-lift Atom 1700 agricultural drone, equipped with intelligent flight-control systems.
Russian farmers need new ways to treat fields with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), particularly in difficult operating environments characterized by uneven terrain and harsh weather. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are helping address these challenges.
Precision Flight Planning and Crop Treatment
Impuls-Atom showcased its next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the 30th anniversary Russian Industrialist International Forum and Exhibition in St. Petersburg.
The agricultural drone is designed to automate the application of crop protection products and liquid fertilizers, as well as monitor crop conditions. It has a payload capacity of 30 kilograms and a 22-liter spray tank. This allows it to treat approximately one hectare of farmland in a single flight.
The drone uses intelligent flight-control and positioning algorithms. “We brought our developments in civilian unmanned systems, including an agricultural drone with an AI-based control system,” said Valery Chuikov, founder of the Impuls-Atom plant. AI algorithms calculate flight paths based on the field's complex terrain, generate optimal routes and adjust the application rate according to the agronomic requirements of each task. The developers also emphasize the Atom 1700's reliability and ease of repair in field conditions, both essential for keeping farm operations running smoothly.
An Unmanned Crop-Treatment System
Impuls-Atom LLC operates in the closed administrative-territorial entity (ZATO) of Atom-TOR-Zarechny in the Penza Region, where the state corporation Rosatom oversees the development of small and medium-sized businesses. The next stage for the Atom 1700 project is mass production of the agricultural drone in Russia. This would help the manufacturer compete with foreign UAVs while building up its own technological capabilities.
Russia's agricultural UAV fleet is expanding rapidly. In 2026, national electronics supplier Rosel, which brings together some of the country's largest radio-electronics manufacturers, developed two new aircraft: Feniks-E (Phoenix-E) and Drofa-S (Bustard-S). A team of students and graduate students at the Grozny State Oil Technical University named after Academician M. D. Millionshchikov developed an autonomous module for drones. It can turn almost any heavy-lift UAV into a smart crop sprayer. In July 2026, the August Group reported the results of field trials of its agricultural UAVs in Tatarstan. The drones were used to treat 5,000 hectares.
Drones developed in Russia's nuclear city are likely to find strong demand. According to the Penza Region Ministry of Economic Development and Industry, farmers in the region used drones to apply crop protection products across more than 30,000 hectares in 2025, while conducting phytosanitary monitoring on another 10,000 hectares. Experts also note that, for certain types of fieldwork, drones can reduce treatment costs by nearly 30% compared with ground-based sprayers.
The Agricultural Drone Market
Russia is gradually moving beyond experimental UAV use in agriculture toward a fully developed ecosystem encompassing aircraft design, intelligent control systems, certification, manufacturing and commercial crop-treatment services. In April 2026, Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut announced that the Ministry of Agriculture was beginning work on a roadmap to expand the use of UAS and self-propelled agricultural machinery with autonomous driving features.
According to an assessment published on July 16, 2026, by Rosselkhozbank's Center for Industry Expertise, Russia's agricultural drone market has already exceeded 17.5 billion rubles (approximately $214 million) and is expected to grow rapidly. The number of drones used in the sector is projected to increase from around 2,000 to 10,000 by 2030.
Meanwhile, manufacturers are moving beyond selling individual UAVs and developing integrated technology solutions for different types of agricultural work. These packages include automated route planning, fleet management for multiple drones, software that analyzes soil conditions and identifies problem areas, digital field maps and precision agriculture platforms.
Because Russian projects are built on open-source software, they can be readily adapted to different tasks and operating environments. This flexibility could make domestically developed UAVs attractive in countries where drones are needed to operate across challenging terrain.
