The Iranian Drones Deployed by Russia in Ukraine are Powered By Stolen Western Technology, Research Reveals

Tim Lister
CNN, Apr. 28, 2023

“The company appears to have tried to conceal its role in the construction of the Shaheds, according to CAR. Its investigators found that original serial numbers on drone components found in Ukraine had been erased, in an apparent effort to disguise their origin.”
 
New research has revealed the extent to which Iran has built a powerful weapons industry based on Western technology, and how that technology is being used by Russia against Ukrainian cities.
Conflict Armament Research (CAR), a UK-based organization which investigates weapons’ components, has established that the Shahed-136 drones sold to Russia by Iran are powered by an engine based on German technology – technology illicitly acquired by Iran almost 20 years ago.
The finding – made through detailed examination of components recovered in Ukraine and shared exclusively with CNN – underlines Iran’s ability to mimic and finesse military technology it has obtained illegitimately.
Western officials are also concerned that Russia may share Western-made weapons and equipment recovered on the Ukrainian battlefield with the Iranians. So far, there’s no firm evidence that has happened.
 
However, relations between Tehran and Moscow have grown much closer. Russia wants Iranian drones and ballistic missiles; Iran wants Russian investment and trade. Russia has become the largest foreign investor in Iran over the past year, according to Iranian officials.
And for the Russians, Iranian drones are a bargain substitute for much more costly missiles, stocks of which are dwindling, according to Western officials. Experts believe that a Shahed-186, for example, costs about $20,000, a tiny fraction of the cost of a Kalibr cruise missile.
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