On Tuesday, the United States imposed new sanctions on firms and entities for allegedly being involved in the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia for use in the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has now entered Day 267. The sanctions target several aviation-related companies and individuals in Iran, as per the US State Department’s statement.
“As we have demonstrated repeatedly, the United States is determined to sanction people and companies, no matter where they are located, that support Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen while announcing the sanctions.
The penalties and diplomatic restrictions come as part of the most recent effort by America to disrupt Russia’s military supply chain and procurement network. They also cut at the growing relationship between Russia and Iran, two politically and economically isolated nations.
However, the action by America is being questioned by some as a new investigation reveals that several components of the Iranian drones supplied to Russia have American and other Western-built components in them.
What is going on? How is Iran supporting Russia in the Ukraine war? We take a deep dive into its supply of drones to Russia and how recent investigations reveal that a majority of the electric components in the Iranian weaponry is not homegrown — but, in fact, manufactured by companies in the US, Europe and other allied nations.
Iranian drones in Ukraine war
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin-led forces have been using drones such as the ‘suicide’ drone Shahed-136 and the lethal Mohajer-6 drones to brutal effect on Ukraine’s civilian centres and critical energy infrastructure.
They’ve also come in handy for Moscow as Russia’s military runs low on more advanced weaponry like guided missiles.
On 26 September, Russian forces had used the Iranian-made Shahed-136 to attack a Ukrainian command post in Odesa, which was later confirmed by Sergey Bratchuk, the spokesman of the Odesa regional military administration.
Reportedly the aftermath of a Shahed-136 loitering munition strike in Odesa. 6/https://t.co/uunhsc9Pgb pic.twitter.com/JTk7xhRE6J
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) September 23, 2022
For the unaware, the Shahed-136 drones, also known as Kamikaze drones, are autonomous weapons that affords Russia the ability to inflict damage to Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian targets without direct risk to military personnel.
These drones have a triangular wing and dive toward a target carrying a warhead of around 80 pounds.
The Russian forces have also been using the Mohajer-6 UAV since September in the Ukraine war.
On September 23, anti-aircraft fighters of the "Southern" Air Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down a multi-purpose strike UAV of Iranian production "Mohajer-6", designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, reconnaissance, and fire damage. pic.twitter.com/K5zyn70LYv
— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) September 23, 2022
The twin-boom drone with a high-wing layout is capable of carrying a multispectral surveillance payload and/or up to four precision-guided munitions.
Not so homegrown drones
However, the use of these Iranian drones has also thrown up an interesting and worrying aspect of the war. Investigators have found several of the components of the drones are made in the US, Europe, and Asia.
A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report stated that three-quarters of the components of the Iranian drones downed in Ukraine are American-made. According to the WSJ, the findings were made after the Ukrainian military downed several drones, including an Iranian Mohajer-6 drone that agents hacked midflight and landed intact. The report said that while more than 200 technical components were made by firms based in the US, and nearly a third by companies in Japan.
Another investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service also found that Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union. The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm.
The RFE investigation based off the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military showed a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology.
According to the website of RunCam, the 2013 company, is involved in the development and production of so-called “first-person-view” real-time cameras.
Ukrainian intelligence have also been quoted as saying that the thermal-imaging camera in the drone has been manufactured by Sierra-Olympic Technologies Inc, an Oregon-based company in the US.
It is also reported that the microchip from the Mohajer-6 drone bears logos of California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc (ADI).
Other electronic components of the drone have been manufactured by units of German-owned Infineon Technologies AG and Arizona-based Microchip Technology Inc.
It is also reported that the servomotors in the Mohajer-6, which enables operators to manoeuvre the craft, were made by Japan’s Tonegawa-Seiko Co.
The WSJ report further added that the high-resolution telescopic infrared lens used in the Mohajer-6 for surveillance and targeting appeared identical to a model made by an Israeli firm, Ophir Optronics Solutions Ltd.
Another report by Institute for Science and International Security found that the engine in the Shahed-136 drone system uses an engine built by Beijing MicroPilot Flight Control Systems – which is a copy of an engine built by German company Limbach Flugmotoren.
Spencer Faragasso, a research fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security, told Insider, “What appears to be happening is that China has taken the designs for these engines, indigenously produced them in China, and in some cases export these designs to Iran.”
Iran speaks on drone use
Iran initially refuted all claims that drones being used by Russia were theirs. However, earlier this month, Iran government admitted to shipping lethal drones to Russia, but claimed that the transfer had taken place before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had publicly confirmed the drone shipments, refuting claims that more drones had been supplied since the invasion.
Also read: Drones are a reality: Time for India to prepare for security challenges
“This fuss made by some Western countries that Iran has provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine — the missile part is completely wrong," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. “The drone part is true, and we provided Russia a small number of drones months before the Ukraine war,” he added.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Tehran of lying, adding that Kyiv was downing at least 10 of the unmanned aerial vehicles every day.
Many geopolitical and defence experts state that Tehran’s decision to sell drones to Russia, despite facing international sanctions, was because they wanted to strengthen relations with Russia and also enhance its own role as a major weapons exporter.
Moreover, Russia’s war in Ukraine also serves as a place where Iranian weapons can be used at scale to further test and refine them.
With inputs from agencies
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