The National Technology Initiative (NTI) intends to announce a special competition with a prize fund of about 300 million rubles. among the developers of cargo drones. The aim of the event is to create a set of interconnected technological solutions that allow the delivery of a 50 kg cargo to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over a distance of 1000 km. Of course, a modern drone will not fly that far without landing, so we are talking about creating a complex infrastructure with charging pads, a navigation system and loading mechanisms.
The official representative of the NTI Platform, Yuri Sushinov, told Vedomosti that the competition would be held in 2022–2024. NTI Up Great Committee, which includes representatives of the Russian Venture Company, the Skolkovo Foundation and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. The decision to hold the tender was made by the competition commission under the Ministry of Education and Science (the Ministry oversees the national project “Science”, which includes NTI). The money for the prize fund is allocated within the framework of a federal subsidy, Sushinov explained.
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