Pilot operation of the Partizan unmanned ultra-short take-off and landing aircraft will be carried out with the application of state support measures for operators, as defined in the national project Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS/BAS).
In February of this year, the state development corporation VEB.RF on a 50/50 parity basis with the Skolkovo Foundation became a shareholder of the Sk Capital investment platform. This made it possible to combine the financial and strategic resources of the state corporation, the technological expertise of the Skolkovo Foundation and Sk Capital’s investment team into a key structure for the implementation of major projects to create technological holdings in industries strategically important for Russia.
One of such projects is the creation by the S.A. Chaplygin Siberian Research Institute of Aviation (SibNIA), commissioned by the Foundation for Advanced Research (FAR), of a demonstrator of an ultra-short take-off and landing unmanned transport aircraft with a hybrid propulsion system and active blowing of the carrier surfaces. This project is called Partizan.
Partizan demonstrator unmanned airplane performed the first flight
As previously reported, on 16 February in Novosibirsk, a demonstrator of the aircraft performed the first flight in manned mode. SibNIA noted that the first flights of Partizan will be made in manned mode to ensure the safety of the tests and the formation of an array of data necessary for the subsequent “training” of the automatic control system of the drone. To collect flight data, the aircraft is equipped with various recording equipment and sensors. The silks on the lower wing console show how efficiently the blowing system works.
The machine was flown by Honoured Test Pilot of Russia, Director of SibNIA Vladimir Barsuk. After landing, he told a VGTRK correspondent that low flight speeds revealed poor efficiency of the aircraft roll control. To solve this problem it is necessary to increase the area of ailerons. As Vladimir Barsuk said, another section will be added.
“What SibNIA engineers are working on together with the Foundation for Advanced Research and the BAS Consortium recently seemed unbelievable. The successful integration of the Partizan system into the sphere of cargo transport and monitoring can radically change the structure of the logistics market, opening up new opportunities with the prospect for commercial success,” emphasised the FPI.
Following the first flight of the Partizan aircraft, the UAS/BAS Consortium, the Foundation for Advanced Studies and SibNIA, signed a co-operation agreement, the purpose of which is to carry out joint work on the development of the project.
“Within the framework of the agreement, specifications of the aircraft will be formed in the interests of a wide list of customers of the logistics services market and pilot operation will be ensured with the application of state support measures for operators defined in the national project Unmanned Aviation Systems,” the press service of the investment platform Sk Capital told the website Aviation of Russia.
In the near future, in accordance with the flight test programme, planned work will be carried out to confirm key flight performance characteristics and transition of the tests to unmanned mode. At the end of the tests, the demonstrator should confirm the ability to transport cargoes weighing up to 1,000 kg over distances of up to 1,000 km, taking off and landing on unprepared sites of 50 by 50 metres in both manned and unmanned modes.
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