A Russian military drone crashed into a dacha in the republic of Tatarstan on Tuesday following an apparent malfunction during a test flight, the drone’s developer said.
Officials in Kazan, Tatarstan’s capital, said a “civilian” aircraft lost control and fell onto a dacha north of the city at 9:10 a.m. local time, sparking a brief fire but causing no injuries. Videos shared on social media showed flames engulfing the building.
Regional transportation prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation, saying the drone crashed about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from its landing strip.
The drone’s developer, the Yekaterinburg-based Ural Civil Aviation Factory, confirmed its new Altius model crashed during landing and blamed “unidentified external electronic warfare devices” for disrupting the flight.
Under development since 2011, Altius has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. In 2018, police arrested its chief designer on fraud charges.
The drone, seen as a rival to the U.S.-developed MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk, made its first flight in 2019.
Russia’s Defense Ministry says the six-ton drone can fly for more than 24 hours and conduct a full range of optical, radio and radar reconnaissance missions.
The United States sanctioned the Ural Civil Aviation Factory in 2023 for developing Altius and servicing other drones used in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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