The claim of European intelligence sources about the secret project of the production of Russian drones in China

According to Isna, according to one of these documents, IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, built and tested a new UAV model named Garpiya-3 in China with the help of domestic experts. has done

According to the Reuters News agency, IEMZ Kupol has announced to the Russian Ministry of Defense that it can produce drones including the G3 on a factory scale in China, which weapons can be used in “special military operations” in Ukraine.

“If approved, sending these drones from China to Russia would be a significant development,” said Fabian Haynes, a researcher at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

He claimed: “If you look at what China has provided so far, these goods have mainly been dual-purpose goods that include parts that can be used in weapon systems. This is what has been reported so far.”

However, Samuel Bendt, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based think tank, said Beijing may be reluctant to expose itself to international sanctions for aiding Moscow’s military efforts and intelligence. More is needed for this issue that China plays the role of host in the production of Russian military drones.

He also claimed: “The official existence of a factory that makes drones for the Russians exposes China to some of the harshest effects of sanctions, so it’s unclear how much China is willing to disclose or do.”

According to reports from IEMZ Kupol to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the G3 can travel about 2,000 km with a 50 kg payload. According to them, samples of G3 and some other Chinese-made UAV models have been delivered to this Russian company for further tests with the participation of Chinese experts.

In these documents, however, it is not mentioned that Chinese UAV experts are present in this project.

According to the claims of 2 separate documents reviewed, this Russian company has delivered seven Chinese-made military drones, including 2 G3s, at its headquarters in Izhevsk, Russia. Two European intelligence sources said the company acts as an intermediary with Chinese suppliers.

2 intelligence sources also claimed that the delivery of prototype drones to the Russian company is the first concrete evidence that their intelligence agencies have found of the delivery of Chinese-made drones to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022.

Beijing has repeatedly denied that China or its companies provide weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine and said that the country is still neutral about the war in Ukraine.

In response to the article, China’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters that China’s position is at odds with other countries‘ “double standards in arms sales,” which Beijing says has “fueled the fire of the Ukraine crisis.”

Earlier this month, in response to a report by Reuters about the Russian company IEMZ Kupol starting the production of G3 military drones, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that there are no international restrictions on the country’s trade with Russia.

David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who is now the head of the Research Group on Science and International Security, said that this Russian company can circumvent Western sanctions against Moscow by establishing and operating production facilities in China that have access to advanced chips and expertise. Go around.

The Russian company IEMZ Kupol said that in 8 months, the project in China will be ready to produce the Chinese-designed REM1 offensive drone that can carry 400 kg of payload.

2 European intelligence sources also claimed that this system is similar to the American “Reaper” drone.

The two informed sources also claimed that a Russian defense manufacturing plant called TSK Vektor is acting as an intermediary between IEMZ Kupol and Chinese suppliers in this project. They also said the Russian companies were working with a Chinese company, Shenzhen-based Redlepus TSK Vector Industrial, without specifying Redlepus’ role.

In another separate document, it is claimed that Kupol, TSK Vektor and Redlepus companies are looking to conduct a joint drone research between China and Russia and set up a production center in Xinjiang province.

According to these documents, this research center is 80 hectares for the production of 800 drones per year.

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country’s army has received about 140,000 drones in 2023, and Moscow is looking for a 10-fold increase in this number this year.

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