OJSC Experimental Machine-Building Plant n.a. V.M. Myasishchev, part of the United Aircraft Corporation of Rostec State Corporation, kicked off operational testing of the new spy, according to a press release issued Thursday by UAC.

The new surveillance plane is a modified AN-140-100 light military transport aircraft designed for the Russian Air Force.

“After completion of work at the enterprise to finalize the airframe and systems, the aircraft was moved to the flight test base for ground and flight tests,” it said in a statement.

Tests are carried out to confirm the safety and reliability of the design, as well as the operability of the installed equipment.

“At the end of the preliminary testing phase, the aircraft will go to special flight tests, which are carried out by the V.P. Chkalov State Flight-and-Testing Centre together with our company. Currently, more than half of the program’s flights have been completed on the aircraft, the work is successful,” the corporation said Managing Director of the plant Alexander Gorbunov.

The Antonov AN-140-100 aircraft, modernized for executing cartography and aerial survey missions., is capable of photographing the terrain with high resolution. High-quality images obtained from the aircraft will find wide applications in various fields of activity.

The aircraft is fitted with various cameras and sensors in the fuselage section to accomplish surveillance and photographic missions over a large area.

As explained in the KLA, the initial aerial survey data can later be used to digitize information about the terrain and create electronic and digital maps, spatial and three-dimensional models of the surface and bottom of reservoirs, plans for the shelf and inland reservoirs.