Russia has secret project to develop military drones in China – Reuters

Russia has a programme in China to develop and manufacture drones for the war in Ukraine.

Source: Reuters

Details: Russia has set up a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine.

Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called the Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.

Kupol has told the Russian Defence Ministry that it can produce drones, including the G3, on a large scale at a factory in China for use in the "special military operation" (as Moscow refers to the war) in Ukraine.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of any such project, adding that China has strict controls on drone exports.

Last week, US officials expressed concern over what they called China's support for the Russian war machine.

The Garpiya-3 drone is capable of flying over 2,000 km. The payload is 50 kg, according to a report Kupol prepared for the Russian Defence Ministry. Samples of the Garpiya-3 and some other Chinese-made drone models have been delivered to Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts.

Kupol received seven Chinese-made military drones, including two Garpiyas, at its headquarters in the city of Izhevsk. The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, do not specify the drones’ delivery date or identify the suppliers in China.

Reuters says the delivery of the drone samples to Kupol is the first firm evidence that Chinese-made drones have been delivered to Russia since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.

Background:

• The majority of the components in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine are made in China. 

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