Russia Has Secret Long-Range Drone Program in China: Report

Reuters reports that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and tested a long-range attack drone model called the Garpiya-3, or G3, in China.

Citing reports sent by Kupol to the Russian Defense Ministry earlier this year, Reuters said the drones were developed with the help of local specialists in China.

It said another Kupol report said the G3s and other drones could be produced at the Chinese factory on a scale for the war in Ukraine.

The press also wrote that it had seen invoices confirming that Kupol had received seven military drones made at the Chinese facility at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk.

Two of these were G3 models, it said.

The G3 can travel about 1,200 miles with a 110-pound payload, Reuters wrote, citing Kupol reports.

In addition, Kupol reports said that within eight months, the Chinese factory will be able to produce another drone with a payload of 400 kg, according to Reuters.

This would be comparable to a US Reaper drone, European intelligence officials said.

China’s foreign ministry told Reuters it was not aware of such a project.

Business Insider has not independently verified the Reuters report. However, two experts told BI that it is plausible.

“It’s absolutely a likelihood — almost a near certainty — that cooperation between Russia and China at the military and technical level is deeper than is commonly reported,” said James Nixey, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Chatham think tank. House from London. .

The West “should not be surprised” by the recently reported closer cooperation, he added.

China claims to be neutral in the war with Ukraine. But its partnership with Russia is growing – including supporting the sanctions-hit Russian economy by buying large amounts of oil and partnering in joint military exercises.

But before the Reuters report, China was believed to have failed to transfer entire weapons systems to Russia.

Nixey said it’s a matter of increments.

The US has long accused China of supporting Russia’s war effort by providing dual-use components that could be used to make weapons, and, Nixey said, it would be “naive” to assume they are not.

On September 11, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell accused China of directly supplying military parts.

The new report will make it “increasingly difficult” for the West to ignore the ways China is helping Russia during the war, Sari Arho Havren, an associate fellow specializing in China’s foreign relations at the Royal United Services Institute, told BI.

“I think we’re moving into a situation where this just can’t be ignored anymore,” she said.

Officially, the EU’s position is to impose sanctions on countries that provide military aid to Russia, she said. But Brussels was unwilling to do that to China.

Sanctions are “absolutely China’s fear,” Nixey said.

If that happens, “then China’s well-oiled machine suddenly has a mess in it because secondary sanctions will prevent China from interacting with a global economy, which it needs to do if it wants to continue to grow,” he continued.

Even so, China’s motivations for working so closely with Russia are clear, he said.

While the two countries do not have identical worldviews, Russia’s war in Ukraine provides a significant challenge to Western training and influence, which China finds extremely useful.

“Let’s be absolutely clear: China does not want Russia to lose this war,” Nixey said. “That would not be in China’s interest.”

The war, he said, “is a symbol and an ancestor of the Western capability, the Western backbone, the Western political will to defend the rules-based international order.”

The West reacted with alarm to the latest news.

NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah told Reuters: “These reports are deeply concerning and Allies are consulting on this matter.”

“The Chinese government has a responsibility to ensure that its companies do not provide lethal assistance to Russia,” Dakhlallah added. “China cannot continue to fuel Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II without damaging its interests and reputation.”

However, according to Nixey, the West should also have done much more.

“We should have planned for this way before,” he said. “We shouldn’t hope it won’t happen. It’s crazy.”