Kazakhstan mulls producing drones

Kazakhstan needs to launch production of drones, KazTAG reports citing deputy Defense Minister of Kazakhstan Sergey Gromov. “We do not want to just buy the drones. We would like them to be transferred with at least the technical maintenance. In general, our goal is to launch production of light and medium drones here. Heavy drones is the separate issue. There are not that many of them,” Gromov told KazTAG on the sidelines of the government meeting. According to him, different models of drone are being tested and the date of the international tender has not been set yet. “щгк KazSpetsExport is still testing drone samples to identify the best ones: from Israel, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus,” he added. Gromov said that all types of drones would be purchased: small, helicopter-type, those launched from the hand, as well as medium and large ones that have both scout and attack functions. “We will purchase all types and produce some of them,” he said. Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that Russian drones were tested by the 36th air assault brigade of Kazakhstan Armed Forces. The plan is that the drones will be used by the intelligence divisions of Kazakhstan Armed Forces after the manufacturing country is selected in 2014.