The latest Orion air reconnaissance drone is at the final stage of its trials and the Russian Defense Ministry will receive the first model of this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by the end of this year, Kronshtadt Group Chief Designer Nikolai Dolzhenkov told TASS on Thursday.

‘We are at the final stage of trials under a contract with the Defense Ministry. We are planning to deliver the first UAV system in the immediate future, possibly, even this year," the chief designer said.

The timeframe of launching the drone’s serial production will depend on the Defense Ministry’s decision, he said.

Kronshtadt CEO Sergei Bogatikov told TASS at the MAKS-2019 aerospace show that the company was planning to deliver the first Orion drone to the Defense Ministry by the end of this year.

"We are sure that we will make the first deliveries at the end of this year," the chief executive said.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko earlier said that the latest drone Orion would start arriving for the troops in 2019.