MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The design of a multi-rotor helicopter with a hybrid engine is expected to be developed in Russia by the end of 2018, an aircraft manufacturing industry source told Sputnik.

A hybrid engine is a combination of a traditional aircraft engine with an electric motor. This design decision aims at reducing the takeoff weight, improving the efficiency of all helicopter systems, and increasing the duration and the range of flight.

In June, a source in the aircraft manufacturing industry told Sputnik that Russia’s research and manufacturing association Aviation Systems has developed the TAKR 7001 tactical reconnaissance drone system, which comprises fixed-wing and multi-rotor unified unmanned aerial vehicles.

According to the source, the fixed-wing drone, dubbed K-0106, is a high-wing monoplane powered by a single turboprop in tractor configuration. The drone has a takeoff weight of up to 6.5 kilograms (over 14 pounds) and can stay in the air for up to 1.5 hours.

Both drones use a communications system developed by the Aviation Systems company, which allows ground operators to maintain control over the vehicles at a distance of up to 15 kilometers (over 9 miles). The drones are equipped with a unified optical reconnaissance system that is capable of identifying people at a distance of 1.5 kilometers at daytime and one kilometer at night.

Russia is currently carrying out a large-scale rearmament program, announced in 2010, to achieve a 70-percent modernization of its military hardware by 2020.