MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Russia’s government-back tech corporation Rostec said on Friday it has developed a new technique of inducing rain and plans to begin mass production of a corresponding device in the fourth quarter of 2017.

"The technique is based on the use of silver iodide-containing substance. A cartridge charged with this substance is fired over a cloud from a plane. A rain front forms within a span of 30 minutes," Rostec said in a press release.

According to the corporation, the technique was successfully tested in late July 2017 to "induce precipitation in areas swept by forest fires." "Rostec’s collaborator under this project is Research Institute of Applied Chemistry," it said.

Today, Rostec’s companies turn out several types of such products, namely Alazan anti-hail rockets, PV-26 rain-inducing cartridges, and Nuris anti-avalanche systems.

"One cloud may have up to several dozen tonnes of water but rain not always falls where it is needed. Today, we have learnt to control this process. In terms of practical application, this technique can be used to extinguish fires - and this is only one of the spheres where our development can be utilized. We plan to expand cooperation with Russia’s Federal Aerial Forest Protection Service (Avialesookhrana) and the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet). Rain-inducing techniques can also be used by farming companies to irrigate drylands," said Artyom Muranov, marketing director at the Research Institute of Applied Chemistry.