China creates a drone at Russia's request - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
Chinese and Russian companies are working together to develop an attack drone similar to Iran's Shahed kamikaze drone, with China potentially providing whole drones or parts to be assembled in Russia.
Chinese and Russian companies are jointly developing an attack drone similar to Iran's Shahed kamikaze drone. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing its own sources in the EU, UNN reports.
Details
According to the agency, in 2023, companies from Russia and China held talks on copying and producing a copy of the Iranian Shahed drone in China. And this year, they have already begun testing the version before sending it to Russia.
Europeans believe that providing Russia with these UAVs for attack purposes would cross the line of lethal assistance, against which Chinese officials have been repeatedly warned by the West. They also point out that China is currently hesitating whether to send whole drones to Russia or parts that can be assembled locally.
"What worries the West is that China can produce a single drone like Shahed much faster than Iran or Russia," the publication points out.
Officials have not identified the drone, but Chinese defense websites and several media outlets have reported that the country is developing a kamikaze strike drone called the Sunflower 200, which looks similar to Iran's Shahed 136 drone.
Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that China is providing Russia with satellite imagery for military purposes, microelectronics and machine tools for tanks, as well as a number of technologies used in weapons or required for their production.
