One hundred and fifty teams make it through round one of million Rouble CROC challenge.

The list of contestants who have qualified for the second round of the Flying Drone Contest organized by CROC has been finalized, with 150 teams and 87 individuals passing the first checkpoint. There will be three more checkpoints: in March, May, and July, with the final to take place in August 2013. The first prize is 1 million Rubles*.


To qualify for the second round, a participant had to submit by January 31 all information required in accordance with the first round terms, including a drone technical paper with a device description. Visit the contest website to see photos of teams and individuals and the YouTube channel to watch video presentations.

“We have reviewed drone technical papers and I’m happy to see a fairly high level of overall competence amongst our participants. The majority of qualified contestants understands in detail what is required to compete within the contest and while many of them are going to make multi-copters, i.e. drones with several propellers, contest applications for classical helicopters and even one blimp were also submitted. We wish them all good luck and patience! It is clear now that all remaining contestants have the potential to win; but who will spend enough time and effort to come out on top – that is the question,” remarks Alexey Dobrovolsky, Software Development Director, CROC.

* The Prize is paid after personal income tax deduction subject to Articles 224 and 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The tax deduction is 13% for tax residents or 30% for non-residents of the Russian Federation.

Gary Mortimer

Founder and Editor of sUAS News | Gary Mortimer has been a commercial balloon pilot for 25 years and also flies full-size helicopters. Prior to that, he made tea and coffee in air traffic control towers across the UK as a member of the Royal Air Force.