According to a new report from the Institute for Science and International Security, these weapons appear to be built using Chinese parts that are based on Western designs.
Citing an open source review of available information, researchers found in their analysis published Monday that the Shahed-136 drone uses an engine built by Beijing MicroPilot Flight Control Systems — which is a copy of an engine built by German company Limbach Flugmotoren.
Iran has also designed its own parts that are based on these knock-off Chinese parts. For example, the Shahed-131 drone — another drone used by Russian forces in Ukraine that is controlled by a remote operator and flown into a target and blown up — contains an engine built domestically in Iran, but it’s a reverse-engineered copy of another Beijing MicroPilot Flight Control Systems engine. And this Chinese engine is based on a British design.
“China plays a larger role than previously assessed in enabling Iran to manufacture and supply drones to Russian forces. It appears that Chinese companies are supplying Iran with copies of Western commodities to produce UAV combat drones,”
the researchers wrote in their report.
Spencer Faragasso, a research fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security, told Insider that China somehow obtained these Western designs, though it’s unclear if they were acquired through a transaction or another method.
“What appears to be happening here is that China has taken the designs for these engines, indigenously produced them in China, and in some cases export these designs to Iran,” Faragasso said. “In other cases, the engines have been identified directly in Iranian kamikaze drones.”
The extent of China’s involvement in Iran’s drone-making capabilities, however, it not immediately clear. It’s also unknown when specific Chinese parts arrived in Iran.
The full 7-page report can be accessed here.
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands next to an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone – Screenshot/President of Ukraine official website
Source: Business Insider