The first Russian drone with a hybrid propulsion system will appear at MAKS-2021

The ZALA 421-16E5G unmanned aerial system is one of the new products that will be demonstrated for the first time at the Zala Aero stand (part of the Kalashnikov Group of Companies) at the MAKS-2021 International Airshow.

The aircraft is designed for aerial monitoring on long routes, which makes it indispensable for use in the oil and gas sector. The first samples are already in operation at fuel and energy facilities.

It can stay in the air for more than 12 hours, cover distances of more than 1,200 kilometres and conduct aerial monitoring at a distance of more than 100 kilometres.

The drone's low acoustic conspicuity is achieved by the ability to operate in silent mode on a buffer battery. This mode can last up to 1 hour, while the battery recharge time in the air is only 2 hours.

The ZALA 421-16E5G is adapted to operate in full radio silence mode in areas with a complex radio environment at a distance of up to 500 kilometres from the launch point. The "video navigation" function makes it possible to keep the drone in sight even in the absence of satellite navigation system signals.

The drone is equipped with a combined target load with two thermal imaging cameras, a video camera with 60x magnification. The video stream is broadcast in HD format (1280*720), so the ground station operator can view the streaming image in the smallest detail.