MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. The RKhM-9 advanced radiation, chemical and biological reconnaissance vehicle will enter service with the Russian troops in coming years, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on Friday.

"In the coming years, we expect the delivery of such advanced special hardware as the RKhM-9 radiation, chemical and biological reconnaissance platform based on the Taifun-K vehicle. A completely new instrumentation system has been developed for the vehicle to boost its speed and reconnaissance range by 1.5-2 times," the general said.

A drone that makes part of the RKhM-9 vehicle can also be employed for other purposes, if necessary, in the process of accomplishing radiation, chemical and biological protection measures. This system will make it possible to conduct radiation reconnaissance of terrain at altitudes of up to 300 meters in the automatic, semi-automatic and manual modes, make photo and video images at any time of day or night, he said.

Russia is also developing the MRK-RKhBZ mobile multi-purpose robotic vehicle for the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops to comprise two ground robotic systems and two Orlan-10 drones with sets of detachable equipment. The system is outfitted with jam-resistant data control and transfer technology, he added.

The robotic vehicle is currently undergoing preliminary trials. Its integral robots are capable of accomplishing any tasks both automatically and under an operator’s control. The vehicle’s ground systems can conduct radiation and chemical reconnaissance to a range of 6 km while the data transfer drone will have an operational range of 25 km, the general said.