Russia will test fly its first domestically-produced strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in 2014, First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov said on Friday.

In February, Army General Nikolay Makarov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, said the drone would be first test flied in late 2012, a revision of the initial 2015 timeframe.

In early April, Russia's Defense Ministry issued a technical specification for the development of the drone. The new aircraft is expected to have a modular structure and be able to carry various types of equipment and armament.

The Tranzas company will build the UAV's on-board electronics as well as its navigation and control systems, while the airframe, which will weigh about five tons, will be produced by the Kazan-based Sokol design bureau. Russia's Defense Ministry sealed contracts with Tranzas and Sokol worth an estimated 3 billion rubles ($101.9 million) in October 2011.

In late March, Russian Air Force commander-in-chief Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, told the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid that strike drones would enter service before 2020. He did not specify how many drones will be acquired.

The United States has relied heavily on UAVs including the Predator system to carry out missile attacks on insurgents in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.

Russia 'Years Behind' in Military Electronics
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Apr 24 Russia's defense electronics are up to 12 years behind foreign analogs, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"The technical level of electronics used in the development and manufacture of military hardware and equipment...is five to 12 years behind that in other countries," he said.

Microelectronics production in Russia is low scale and loss making, and needs government support, he said.

Russia's priority is to develop a new generation of military electronics as a basis for the creation of advanced weapon models, he added.

Russia to Set Up Core Armor Testing Area in Urals
Nizhny Tagil (RIA Novosti) Apr 24 - Russia's core center to test armor and shells for it will be established at a testing range of a institute in Nizhny Tagil in the Urals, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister in charge of defense industry issues, said on Saturday.

"The center will be major in Russia for tests of armor and shells for armor. It will be a core demonstration center where we will hold top international meetings," Rogozin told reporters.

Russian tank makers will be also obliged to train tank crews for foreign customers.

"We have a great export potential. We are going to widen it by training [the crews] and then [those trainees] will become armed forces trainers for our partners in foreign states," he also said, adding that hotels, showrooms and special simulators of military equipment will be build near the testing range soon.