Russia started producing a new long-range attack drone called the Garpiya-A1 last year using Chinese engines and parts, the new unmanned system has been deployed in the war in Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents provided.
The intelligence – which included a production contract for the new drone, company correspondence on the manufacturing process and financial documents – indicated that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons maker Almaz-Antey, produced well over 2,500 Garpiyas from July 2023 to July 2024.
The existence of the new Russian drone incorporating Chinese technology has not been previously reported. IEMZ Kupol and Almaz-Antey did not respond to requests for comment.
The two intelligence sources said that the Garpiya, which means Harpy in Russian, has been deployed against military and civilian targets in Ukraine, causing damage to critical infrastructure as well as both civilian and military casualties.
The sources asked that neither they nor their agency be identified due to the sensitivity of the information. They also asked that certain details, such as dates, related to the documents be withheld.
Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington DC-based think tank, told Reuters that Garpiya, if confirmed, would mark a departure from Russia’s reliance on Iranian designs for long-range drones.
“If this is happening, it could indicate that Russia can now rely more on domestic development as well as, obviously, on China, since both sides in this war depend on many Chinese components for drone production,” he said.
Iran, which didn’t comment for this story, has supplied more than a thousand Shahed “kamikaze” drones to Russia since the start of the invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in May last year.
They have been used to exhaust Ukrainian air defences and hit infrastructure far from the front lines. Iran has repeatedly denied sending drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that Beijing strictly controls the export of items with potential military applications, including drones.
“With regard to the Ukrainian crisis, China has always been committed to promoting peace talks and political settlement,” the statement said. It added that there were no international restrictions on China’s trade with Russia.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
