MOSCOW, May 6 (AVN) - The Defence Ministry and the Yakovlev design bureau have signed a contract for building the Stroi-P aerial reconnaissance system and 10 Pchela-1T type drones equipped with television reconnaissance means for it, Yury Yankevich, high-ranking official of the bureau, told the Military News Agency.
The prime enterprise for building the system is the Kyshtym radio-electronics plant, Yankevich said. The drones will be made by the bureau's test workshop and the Smolensk aviation plant. The system will be supplied to the troops in late 2000.
The Smolensk plant earlier built 50 Pchela-1T drones, but they have practivally depleted their resorce. The price of the export variant of the Stroi-P system makes USD5-5.5m, according to unofficial data.
The tests of Pchela-1IK drone with infrared instruments intended for night-time air reconnaissance will end in 2-3 months, Yankevich added.