According to European intelligence sources and documents reviewed by Reuters, Russia has set up a weapons program in China to develop and manufacture long-range attack drones for use in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The program involves IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, which has reportedly developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with assistance from local specialists.
MOSCOW – Russia has established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by Reuters.
Mr Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based defence think-tank, said the delivery of UAVs from China to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant development. Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts, they said.
The two intelligence sources said the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022. In response to questions for this article, the Foreign Ministry told Reuters that China’s position presented a contrast with other nations with “double standards on arms sales” whom it said “added fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis”.
Mr David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security research group and has conducted extensive work on Chinese and Russian cooperation on drone production, told Reuters Kupol could skirt Western sanctions on Russia by setting up a production facility in China where it could access advanced chips and expertise.
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