Russian UAV manufacturer "Albatros" circumvents sanctions, uses SONY cameras and cooperates with global giant NVIDIA - InformNapalm. PHOTOS
The Russian manufacturer of UAVs "Albatros" is using "Albatros-M5" in the war against Ukraine and circumventing the sanctions imposed on Russia after 2022.
This was reported by InformNapalm, having examined the data of the Russian UAV manufacturer, transmitted by hacktivists of the Cyber Resistance group, Censor.NET reports.
What is known about the Albatross UAV manufacturing plant
As noted, InformNapalm has internal documentation from "Albatros", where the company tried to supply an anti-drone system to Kazakhstan in 2022-2023 under a contract with "ComPortal" LLP. The supply agreement itself was signed in the summer of 2022, but due to additional restrictions imposed by the Russian authorities on the export of dual-use goods due to the war, "Albatros" took a long time to get permission from the export service.
There are reasonable doubts that Kaspersky Lab was unaware that their partner was continuing to sell a joint product. And there are even greater doubts that the anti-virus software maker was unaware that Albatross was transforming from an agrodrones manufacturer to a contractor for the Russian Armed Forces. The letter from Albatros to the customer on the receipt of all permits with the wording of the estimated delivery date in April 2023, dated 01 March last year. At the very least, Kaspersky Lab should have understood by that time that in January 2023, Albatross became a resident of Alabuga and was producing drones for the Russian Armed Forces.
It is worth mentioning here that a key element in an anti-drone system is a lidar. The Russians used Opal lidars made by the Canadian company Neptec Technologies, which since 2020 has been part of the French group Lumibird Limited. Here are the components of the Kaspersky Antidrone system and their cost.
And here is the end-user certificate, which, back in 2020, guaranteed Lumibird not to transfer or re-export the devices to third countries, not to use them for military purposes or in the interests of the Russian government, and not to use them for any other purpose except for the protection of civilian objects.
However, as of March 2023, when Albatros was trying so hard to get all the permits to export the anti-drone to Kazakhstan, it was already actually acting in the interests of the Russian government. "Albatross itself has become a manufacturer of weapons and equipment for the Russian Armed Forces. In other words, all obligations have been violated. Kaspersky Lab did not in any way interfere with Albatross's foreign economic activity. Therefore, we can assume that the cooperation has not been terminated.
Albatros' involvement in the war
More and more information about Albatros's involvement in the war is available in the public domain. However, we are interested in more classified documentation.
Russia started its war against Ukraine in 2014, but the sanctions imposed on the aggressor for the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Donbas did not hinder the development of Russian industry. "Albatros was founded in 2017, and its flagship was and still is the Albatros-M5 wing UAV. Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we can see the following dynamics of Albatross development:
2018. Albatros-M5 UAV: 4 units were produced, 2 of which were sold, and 2 are used for services.
2019. Albatros-M5 UAV: 5 units produced, 1 sold, 3 used for services, 1 in stock.
2020. Albatros-M5 UAV: 6 units were produced, 4 of which were sold, and 2 are used for services.
2021. Albatros-M5 UAV: 30 units produced, 6 sold, 19 used for services, 5 in stock.
The development dynamics are obvious. While developing Albatros-M5 as a civilian drone, the company has built up a customer base of at least 60 Russian companies and launched an anti-drone project with Kaspersky. Their reports indicate that as of the end of 2021, there were foreign sales of the anti-drone system to Germany, Greece, and Switzerland.
Albatros pointed out to investors that, given the availability of Western components for assembling the devices, it was cheaper to buy foreign components. Thus, the element base for electronic circuits was made in Malaysia, Korea, Japan and China. Servo drives were manufactured by Savox (Sweden-China). Scorpion engines (USA-China). Radio channels (except for Russian and proprietary ones) manufactured by RFDesign (Australia). Engine regulators (except for Russian and own) manufactured by Scorpion (USA-China), Hobbyking (China). Propeller blades manufactured by Aeronaut (Germany). Other components in the Albatros-M5 UAV were made in Malaysia, China, Korea, Singapore, Australia, Sweden, and Switzerland. This was the situation at the end of 2021, before Russia's full-scale invasion.
They used raw materials made in Russia and Germany. As of the beginning of 2022, Albatros had switched to fully Russian-made raw materials, but with an increase in production costs due to the higher purchase price of such raw materials. Therefore, the company still used sandwich carbon filler made in Germany.
The absence of decisive anti-Russian sanctions has led to the Russian company developing normally. And in the Albatros drain, you can see the Russians' attempts to sell their product to Egypt, India, Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, the UAE, Syria, Tanzania, and Myanmar. We will focus on the latter later. Obviously, it was only a matter of time before the Albatross agrodron became a military UAV.
At the end of 2022, Albatros is preparing to become a resident of the Alabuga SEZ. The company signs a contract with Alabuga Development LLC for the supply of 100 Albatros-M5 drones in 2023 for a total of RUB 1 billion 400 million. According to the specification, 50 drones are to be daytime drones and 50 are to be nighttime drones, meaning they can operate at night.
Albatros' internal documentation also clearly shows that its director Florov and chief engineer Spiridonov visited Iran in November 2022. Obviously, this was due to the localisation of the Shahed production in Russia.
Another proof of Albatros' direct involvement in the war is an interesting letter from Director Florov to the head of the Institute of Transport Engineering and Control Systems of the Russian University of Transport, dated 17 October 2023. In it, Florov writes that since August 2022, Spiridonov has been providing assistance to the Russian armed forces in the area of the so-called special military operation on behalf of Albatros LLC. Accordingly, the chief engineer of Albatros cannot pass the exam and needs a postponement.
Obviously, during 2022-2023, Albatros-M5 was tested in the combat zone. The geography of its use was quite extensive and ran along the entire frontline.
The drones were mainly used for the purposes and interests of the FSS Border Service, the Russian Special Operations Forces and the Russian Guard (Sudoplatov's battalion).
The flight statistics leave no doubt that not only Spiridonov, but also other Albatros specialists are directly involved in combat operations. At the same time, among the flights within the trial operation, preference was given to artillery adjustment rather than reconnaissance.
The Albatros is equipped with cameras manufactured by Sony to take aerial photographs and adjust the artillery. Usually, these are Sony A6000 and Sony RX1R2 models for photography, and Sony FCB-EH6500 and Sony FCB-EV7500 cameras for video recording. Albatros uses these devices to produce gyro-stabilised gimbals for UAVs, including those for nighttime video recording with a thermal imager. These gimbals can be purchased on their website.
Foreign economic activity
Since 2020, Albatros has been cooperating with the Myanmar Ministry of Defence. Correspondence with Myanmar makes it clear that the Albatros M5 was considered a military UAV long before the invasion. Here is a draft of a letter that Albatros sent to Myanmar in November 2020.
Alliance Engineering Services Co., Ltd. acted as Albatros's counterparty in these relations, but it acted in the interests of the Ministry of Defence. The drones were to be sold not by Albatros directly, but by an intermediary, Simplex LLC. There is no information on sanctions against this company.
When planning their cooperation, the Burmese explicitly stated that their military planned to have one UAV unit per battalion. "Thus, we will need up to 200-300 UAVs with a service centre and production facilities in Myanmar," the letter says.
At the end of 2021, Albatros indicated to its investors that their products were included in the Myanmar Ministry of Defence's procurement plan for 10 Albatros-M5 systems for 2022. In the summer of 2022, Florov wrote a letter to the Burmese with a proposal to continue and expand cooperation. "At the moment, our Albatros unmanned systems are being successfully used in combat operations during the Special Military Operation on the territory of Ukraine," Florov said, among other things, to motivate the Burmese to expand the "cordial relations" between Russia and Myanmar.
It is also noted that when preparing sales to Myanmar, Albatros made two parallel cost calculations - an external, "official" one, which was seen by contractors, and an internal one for its own planning. The internal calculation included the item "contribution to Alexander", which in fact was a percentage to the intermediary in the amount of USD 240,000. The calculation also included an item "increase for further discount" in the amount of USD 121 thousand. That's the kind of cordial friendship you get.
As of early 2024, Albatros still harbours hopes of gaining access to the Myanmar market. Here's a letter from the same Alexander Dudov who is so eager to get his quarter of a million dollars in "commission".
Also, as of this year, Albatros is in the midst of another epic with its entry into the United Arab Emirates market. Alexander is also helping there. But it is interesting to note that in his correspondence regarding the price and possibility of UAV imports to the UAE, Albatros employee Goldberg points out that "the Albatros M5 was tested in Burkina Faso for 1 month. This event was organised by a private military company.
It is noteworthy that in other Albatros documentation, one can find information about a certain Beryozovaya Dolina LLC. In the Albatross business plan, there was a note opposite this "Beryozovaya Dolina" - "Africa ". This company was also involved in the supply of Kaspersky Antidrone to Kazakhstan. Whether there is a connection with the Wagner Group is a question that needs to be answered.
Suppliers and partners
Albatros uses Nvidia Jetson series microcomputers for neural network-based pattern recognition.
Florov's emails show that communication and cooperation with Nvidia has been going on since at least 2016. It did not stop after the invasion, nor after the sanctions against Russia, nor after the direct US sanctions against Albatross LLC. Florov's contact is Anton Dzhorayev, Senior Manager of Corporate Business Development at Nvidia Corporation. The most recent one is a letter dated 26 February 2024 inviting Albatros to attend the world's "number 1" conference on artificial intelligence, NVIDIA GTC 2024. At the end of the letter, Dzhorayev writes that "invitations can be sent to students and interested colleagues". Obviously, the students are meant to be students of Alabuga Polytechnic. Accordingly, Anton Dzhorayev is well aware of what Albatros LLC and Alabuga SEZ are and what they all do.
Another interesting letter to Florov, dated 24 November 2023, from the Alabuga accountant, shows that the Russians are still using internal combustion engines made by the Japanese manufacturer Saito. Previously, these engines were found in Russian Orlan-10 UAVs. How these engines got to the Alabuga warehouse and for what purpose the Saito FG-40 engines were transferred to Florov, who is signed as "chief designer of Alabuga", is currently unknown. Perhaps it is still a "pre-war" stock. Earlier in the investigation, it was noted that the Russians were trying to establish their own engine production at Alabuga. It is possible that Saito engines will be used as models for copying.
Florov also receives regular emails from various suppliers offering cooperation. Most of them are no longer even ashamed to say openly that they import sanctioned products. For example, the Russian company Atlant represents the interests of Asia Semiconductor. Their letters indicate that Asia Semiconductor unites the Shanghai Chenheyi Technology Development Co. Ltd and the Beijing Online Technology Research Centre Co. Ltd.
Asia Semiconductor specialises in the supply of power connectors, transistors, resistors, diodes, chips and other parts and consumables for highly specialised industries.
They are frank and straightforward: "We supply products from well-known companies, including those on the sanctions lists: Mean Well, Aimtec, Siemens, Chinfa, Maxim, XILINX, Atmel, Wago, Vicor, ST/TI and others.
In the attached list of products available in Asia Semiconductor's warehouse, you can see components manufactured by global giants Intel, Fujitsu and Siemens .
This is how Albatross works. The sanctions against Russia before the invasion did not affect the development of its military-industrial complex, and the sanctions after the invasion are being handled through intermediaries. Instead, Russia continues to kill Ukrainians, destroy our cities, and plans to do so for a very long time. How can this be stopped? Give Ukraine weapons, support it financially, take asymmetric hybrid measures against Russia, revise sanctions policy and put pressure on China and the countries through which equipment flows to Russia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.).
