13 September 2024

Russia started producing a new long-range attack drone called the Garpiya-A1 last year using Chinese engines and parts, which it has deployed in the war in Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents seen by Reuters.

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 more than 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...

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...

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...It added that there were no international restrictions on China's trade with Russia...

The Garpiya "closely resembles the Shahed" but it has several distinguishing features, including a unique bolt-on fin and Limbach L-550 E engines, the European agency said in a statement to Reuters. The engine, which was originally designed and manufactured by a German company, is now produced in China by a local firm, Xiamen Limbach. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters reviewed a contract worth more than 1 billion rubles (10 million euros) signed in the first quarter of 2023 between the Russian defence ministry and Kupol for the development of a factory to produce the drones...

Corporate documents dated from the second quarter of 2023, reviewed by Reuters, showed that supplier TSK Vektor procured parts from Chinese companies for assembly at the Kupol site; 800 Chinese engines were also to be delivered to the new plant where the production line was due to ready by end of the quarter.

TSK Vektor did not respond to request for comment.

The European intelligence service said in the statement it was concerned that Chinese companies were continuing to provide components that enabled Russian production of large kamikaze drones. "The export of the essential components to Russia needs to stop," it said...