The European Intelligence Agency claimed: Russia is producing suicide drones with Chinese engines

According to Isna, the information, which included the contract for the production of the new drone, company correspondence about the manufacturing process and financial documents, claims that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state arms manufacturer Almaz-Anti, from July 2023 to July 2024 more than It has produced 2,500 Garpia drones.

According to Reuters News agency, the two intelligence sources also claimed that Garpia was used against military and civilian targets in Ukraine, causing damage to critical infrastructure as well as civilian and military casualties.

In a statement to Reuters, the European intelligence agency claimed that the Iran-built Garpia was “very similar” to the Shahid, but had several distinctive features, including a unique fin and its Limbach L-550 E engines, originally built by a German company. Designed and manufactured, it is now manufactured in China by a local company called Xiamen Limbach.

Reuters has also seen a contract worth more than one billion rubles (10 million euros) signed in the first half of 2023 by the Russian Ministry of Defense and IEMZ Kupol to develop a company to produce these drones.

European intelligence sources also claimed that a former concrete and cement factory in the Izhevsk region, located in the Udmurt Republic in western Russia, which was purchased by the IEMZ Kupol company in 2020, is being used for the production of drones.

The company’s communications department revealed that the Garpia prototype was put into operation in the first half of 2023. The European Intelligence Agency also claimed that production reached a few hundred units in the second half of 2023 and more than doubled to around 2,000 in the first half of 2024.

In a statement, the European Intelligence Service also claimed that it is concerned that Chinese companies will continue to produce parts that will lead to the production of more suicide drones by Russia.

Samuel Bendt, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank based in Washington, DC, told Reuters: “If Garpia is approved, Russia can now rely more on domestic production as well as China.”

In the meantime, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently asked China to stop supporting Russia in this war and said that Beijing’s aid is an important factor in the continuation of this war.

Also, Washington has repeatedly expressed its concern about Beijing’s alleged support of Russia’s defense industry and has imposed hundreds of sanctions aimed at stopping Moscow’s ability to acquire technologies for military purposes.

It should be noted that the Garpia UAV has a take-off weight of less than 300 kg and a maximum range of 1500 km.

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