The Russian authorities will not equip civilian airports with systems to detect and counter drones, Vedomosti reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
There had been plans to install such systems at major airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Sochi, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Ufa, Yakutsk, Tyumen, Kaliningrad, and other Russian cities.
By 2028, 31 Russian airports were set to be outfitted with anti-drone systems, with the government allocating over 11 billion rubles (approximately $106.7 million) for the project. According to Vedomosti, the initial phase involved protecting one airport in 2025 at a cost of 966 million rubles ($9.4 million), followed by equipping 10 airports in 2026 for 9.7 billion rubles ($94 million). However, funding for the remaining 20 airports was not included in the government project titled “Development of Infrastructure, Ensuring Security, and Establishing a Specialized Certification System for Unmanned Aerial Systems.”
Vedomosti also noted that only law enforcement agencies, departmental security forces, and transport security personnel are currently authorized to use electronic warfare systems.