Moscow, Tehran move forward on plans to set up Iranian-designed drone facility in Russia

New Delhi: Moscow and Tehran are going ahead with their plan to build a new factory in Russia that could make at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones for the war in Ukraine, a WSJ report quoted officials from a country aligned with the US as saying.

According to the officials, a high-level Iranian delegation visited Russia in early January to inspect the planned site for the factory and hammer out details to get the project up-and-running.

“The two countries are aiming to build a faster drone that could pose new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses,” the officials told WSJ.

US officials said Tehran has already given Moscow hundreds of drones that it has used to attack military and civilian targets in Ukraine.

The Biden administration has expressed concern over the growth of a “full-fledged defence partnership” between Russia and Iran. According to the White House, Moscow was preparing Iranian pilots to fly Russian jet fighters in order to deliver those aircraft to Tehran by the end of the year.

In December, the White House warned that Moscow and Tehran were considering whether to build a joint drone-production line in Russia.

The talks have morphed into concrete plans with the 5 January visit to the Russian town of Yelabuga, about 600 miles east of Moscow, according to the report citing the US-aligned officials.

The officials added that the Iranian delegation was led by Brig. Gen. Abdollah Mehrabi, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, and Ghassem Damavandian, the chief executive of Iran’s Quds Aviation Industry, a key defence manufacturer that the US says is central to developing and building the country’s drones.

The Iranian delegation toured the empty site where leaders from the two nations are planning to build a new factory that can produce at least 6,000 drones in the coming years, the officials said.

Iran has so far mostly given Russia so-called suicide drones, also known as the Shahed-136, that are equipped with a small amount of explosives that go off when the unmanned aircraft collide with their intended targets, according to US and Ukrainian officials.

According to the officials, Iran and Russia are now developing a new engine for the Shahed-136 aircraft, which will allow it to travel farther and faster. The cutting-edge drone would be created in the new factory. That might provide new difficulties for Ukraine and other countries that might become drone targets.

The drone factory is part of a $1 billion deal between Russia and Moscow, the officials added.

With inputs from agencies

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