According to two European intelligence agency sources and documents reviewed by Reuters, Russia has developed a weapons program in China to develop and manufacture long-range unmanned aerial vehicles for use in the war against Ukraine, BTA writes.
According to one of the documents - a report sent by the Izhov Electromechanical Plant "Kupol" - a subsidiary of the Russian state arms company "Almaz-Antey" - to the Russian Ministry of Defense at the beginning of this year, in China with the help of local specialists, a new drone model called "Harpy-3" was developed and tested in flight. (G3).
In a subsequent update from "Dome" inform the Ministry of Defense that in a factory in China they have managed to produce drones, including the G3, on such a scale that the weapons can be used in the "special military operation” in Ukraine - the term Moscow uses for the war.
"Dome", "Almaz-Anteus" and the Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on this information. China's foreign ministry told Reuters it was not aware of such a project, adding that the country has strict measures to control the export of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Fabian Hinz of the London-based defense think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies said China's delivery of drones to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant event.
"If you look at what China has supplied so far, it is mostly dual-use goods - components, sub-components that can be used in weapons systems,” he told Reuters. "This is what has been reported so far. But what we really haven't seen, at least in open sources, are documented transfers of entire weapons systems.“
Still, Samuel Bendet, a fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security, said Beijing would be hesitant to become subject to international sanctions for aiding Moscow's war machine and that more information was needed to to establish that Russian combat drones are being produced in China.
The US State Department and the Ukrainian government did not respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
Last week, US officials expressed concern about what they say is Chinese support for the Russian military machine, declining to provide specific information.
"Harpy-3" can travel about 2,000 km with a payload of 50 kg, according to reports by "Kupol" to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Samples of the G3 and some other Chinese-made drone models have been delivered to the "Dome" to Russia for further testing, again involving Chinese experts, the documents said. They did not name the Chinese drone specialists involved in the project described in them, and Reuters was unable to identify them.
According to two separate documents reviewed by Reuters, which represent invoices sent to "Kupol" in the summer by a Russian firm that, according to the two European intelligence sources, serves as an intermediary for Chinese suppliers, "Kupol" has received seven Chinese-made military drones, including two "Harpy-3s". The invoices, one of which required payment in Chinese yuan, did not specify delivery dates or identify suppliers in China.
The two intelligence sources said the delivery of the drone samples to "Kupol" is the first concrete evidence their agency has found of the delivery of entire Chinese-made drones to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
"Harpy-3" is an advanced version of the "Harpy-A1" unmanned aircraft, it is clear from the "Kupol" sent documents to the Ministry of Defence.
From "Dome" say that within eight months, the project in China will be ready to produce a Chinese-designed combat drone "REM 1" (REM 1) with a payload of 400 kg. According to two European intelligence sources, this system will be similar to the American unmanned aircraft "MQ-9 Reaper".