Russia has created secret project in China to produce attack drones - Reuters
A Russian company has launched mass production of drones at a factory in China to be used in the war against Ukraine
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by Reuters.
Russia has created an arms programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine.
According to the publication, the Kupol Research and Production Plant, a subsidiary of the Russian state arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called the Harpy-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.
It is noted that Kupol has informed the Ministry of Defence that it can produce drones, including the G3, on a large scale at a factory in China so that the weapons can be used in a "special military operation" - a term used by Russia to refer to the war in Ukraine.
At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of such a project, adding that the country has strict controls on drone exports.
Last week, U.S. officials expressed concern over what they called China's support for the Russian war machine.
The Harpy-3 drone can cover about 2,000 km with a payload of 50 kg, according to Kupol reports. Samples of the Harpy and some other Chinese-made drone models were delivered to the Russian Kupol for further testing.
As noted, Kupol received seven military drones made in China, including two Harpies. The invoices, one of which requires payment in Chinese yuan, do not have a delivery date for the drones and do not identify the suppliers in China.
According to European intelligence sources, the delivery of the drone samples to Kupol was the first concrete evidence that their agency had identified Chinese-made UAV targets being shipped to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
