Kazakhstan trialling indigenously developed reconnaissance UAV

Kazakhstan announced on 5 February that it has begun trialling an indigenously developed surveillance/reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use by the Kazakh Land Forces.

The Kazakh MoD announced on 5 January that field trials are being conducted with a new, locally developed surveillance/reconnaissance UAV. (Kazakh MoD)

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Nur-Sultan said in a statement that the catapult-launched Shagala UAV, which was developed by researchers at the National Defence University, is currently undergoing field trials, after which the platform is expected to enter series production and be fielded by Kazakh army units from “the platoon to the battalion level”.

The MoD said that the prototype currently undergoing testing has been fitted with a secure communications payload and a locally developed re-chargeable battery capable of operating at low temperatures. The UAV, which was shown fitted with a chin-mounted, electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret, is equipped with two propellers.

The series-production Shagala UAV is expected to have a range of up to 30 km and an endurance of 2.4 h.

No details were provided about the UAV’s dimensions or when trials are set to be completed.