Russian drones are fitted with US equipment bought online
Ukrainian air force finding ‘appalling’ weapons with lethal payload have American-made hardware
IRAN is avoiding sanctions by stuffing its drones used by Russia with American technology available on the web, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
Intelligence reports highlighted the crude nature of the Shahed-136 kamikaze and Mohajer-6 surveillance drones used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
It emerged as a Ukrainian air force spokesman said that more than 300 Iranian UAVs had been shot down by since their introduction to the battlefield little over a month ago.
The drones, especially the Shahed-136, have become key weapons in Russia’s arsenal and have been used to strike critical energy infrastructure.
The single-use drones loiter over their target before crashing into it with a 110Ib warhead.
After an examination of a downed kamikaze drone, Ukrainian security service experts concluded the machine uses a similar flight control and targeting system to DJI drones that are manufactured by Texas Instruments, the US chipmaker.
Its GPS system was said to contain parts firm Hemisphere, a US tech firm, which designs and manufactures positioning products for use in agriculture, construction and mining.
Its fuel pump and associated valves originated from Poland, while the engine was available to purchase from AliExpress, Chinese giant Alibaba’s e-commerce site.
In a separate examination of the Iranian Mohajer-6 reconnaissance and strike drone, which was downed over the Black Sea last month, Ukrainian experts found a similar number of household components.
It is produced predominantly for surveillance but can carry a weapons payload of some 220lb and has a flight range of 124 miles.
Hardware produced by Japanese firms Sony, Panasonic and Fujitsu, as well as lesser known firms from the US, Canada, and the Netherlands, was found in the machine.
A solitary chip that is part of the drone’s power unit was produced by Radiorele, a Ukraine tech firm, according to the intelligence dossier. Many of the internal components, it was noted, were produced for use in household items and not military hardware.
Iran has denied supplying drones to Russian forces, but it is believed both UAVs are produced by Iranian Aircraft Industrial Company.
Engineers have attempted to cover their traces by using English inscriptions with grammatical errors on the insides of the machines, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Harsh sanctions on Iran means its engineers are forced to use household technologies to build military-grade machines.
Ukrainian officials are working with counterparts from G7 countries to prevent Tehran from acquiring dual-use components in the future.
Meanwhile, Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, called the use of the drones “appalling” and vowed to crackdown on their use. “Canada and the United States will keep working with our allies and partners to expose, to deter, and to counter Iran’s provision of these weapons,” he said.
Israel, which has remained cautious about its involvement in the war between Russia and Ukraine, has promised to present Washington with evidence that the Iranian-made drones are being used against Kyiv.
Western officials believe Russia has sought out the Iranian drones to plug gaps in its depleted arsenal of longrange, precision weapons.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said on Friday that Russia had launched attacks with more than 30 drones in two days.
In a clip, recorded next to a downed Shahed-136, he pledged to “clip the wings” of Moscow’s air power.
“We continue our resistance. The aggressor continues his terror. We are again attacked from the sky by a flock of their crows,” Mr Zelensky added.