Comment Russian cargo planes have quietly received the first of dozens of Iranian-made fighter drones for use against Ukraine, US officials said, in a move that underscores deepening ties between Moscow and Tehran while underscoring Russia’s struggles to supply her overextended army. Transport planes left Iran on August 19 carrying at least two types of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of carrying munitions for attacks on radar, artillery and other military targets, according to information gathered by US and other intelligence agencies. But while the weapons could provide a significant boost to Russia’s war effort against Ukraine, the transfer has been marred by technical problems, security officials from the United States and an allied government said in interviews. In early tests by the Russians, the Iranian drones experienced multiple failures, the officials said. “There are some glitches in the system,” said an allied security official whose government closely monitored the transfer. The official agreed to discuss sensitive information on the condition that his identity and nationality not be revealed. “The Russians are not satisfied,” the official said. Russian drones are packed with Western electronics, experts say The initial delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed series drones to Moscow is believed to be the first installment of a planned transfer of hundreds of Iranian UAVs of various types, Biden administration officials said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. sensitivity of matter. Iranian drones could help fill a critical gap in Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. Russia, which has 1,500 to 2,000 military surveillance UAVs, has relatively few attack drones of the type that can carry out precision strikes against targets deep inside enemy territory. Ukraine, by contrast, has used Turkish-made fighter UAVs to wreak havoc on Russian tanks, trucks and artillery since the first weeks of the conflict. The Biden administration warned in July that Russia was preparing to acquire large numbers of Iranian drones to conduct air-to-ground attacks, electronic warfare and battlefield targeting in Ukraine. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported last week that Iran had begun delivering the drones. However, details of the transfer, including the types of UAVs provided and their alleged poor performance so far, have not been previously reported. In interviews, US and allied security officials said Russian planes flew to an Iranian military facility to pick up the drones for several days in mid-August. The allied security official said the initial shipment included two models of Shahed drones, the Shahed-129 and Shahed-191, as well as the Mohajer-6. All are considered to be Iran’s top military drones, designed for attack as well as surveillance. The deal was negotiated over several months by a team led by Brig. General Seyed Hojjatollah Qureishi, head of the supply and logistics department of Iran’s defense ministry, and Russia’s military attaché in Tehran, the security official said. Under the deal, Iranian technical experts traveled to Russia to help build the systems and Russian military officers trained in Iran, the official said. US threatens Russia with tech sanctions on Ukraine Iranian officials had responded obliquely to US claims about the pending drone delivery. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani last month acknowledged “Iranian and Russian technological cooperation” but said Tehran preferred a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Ukraine. Asked last month about the reported deal to acquire Iranian UAVs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian presidency “had no comment on this issue.” While Iran has supplied military drones to proxy armed groups such as Yemen’s Houthi rebels, it has rarely, if ever, tested such models against the kinds of sophisticated electronic jamming and anti-aircraft systems used in Ukraine, said Michael Knights, an expert on military and security with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Iran has demonstrated the ability to launch “swarm” drone strikes – with multiple suicide drones massed against a single target – and Western governments will be watching closely to see if Iran’s UAVs can carry out such operations in a hotly contested battleground, Knights said. “These Iranian drones have not operated in a sophisticated air defense environment before,” Knights said. “The closest they’ve come to that is with [Houthi strikes against] Saudi Arabia or against US bases in Iraq, and they generally did not do well. So I wouldn’t be surprised that, in a more intense environment like Ukraine, they would have some problems.” For Russia, the conflict in Ukraine has exposed the country’s failure to develop a battle line of drones similar to those the United States has been using for two decades, experts say. “They understand that they needed these drones yesterday in large quantities,” said Sam Bendett, a Russian military analyst at the Virginia-based research group CNA. And Russia really only has two countries it can turn to to “close the capability gap” in combat drones: China and Iran. However, China is deeply involved in the global supply chain and does not want to supply UAV fighters because that would likely trigger US sanctions, he said. That leaves Iran, which is not exposed in the same way and whose capabilities are domestic, “which the Russians are going after,” Bendett said. “Iran is also an ally of Russia. So it’s the only real option left. Iran represents a very interesting case of a domestic industry that developed amid sanctions. And it represents a pretty powerful capability.” The United States in June began supplying Ukraine with the High Mobility Artillery Missile System, commonly known as HIMARS, which can fire multiple missiles with precision at Russian military targets from nearly 50 miles away. The use of HIMARS allowed Ukraine to destroy Russian ammunition depots and logistics supplies far behind the front lines. “The Russians have no way to limit the damage that HIMARS is now causing them,” said Dmitri Alperovich, president of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a Washington-based think tank. “They hope attack drones can help.” Other long-range artillery provided by NATO, such as M777 howitzers capable of firing precision-guided missiles, have also added to Russia’s challenge, said Rob A. Lee, a military expert on Russia and senior fellow at the Institute for Foreign Policy Research. In the hands of militants, Iranian drones are emerging as a deadly new wild card “One of Russia’s biggest problems right now is that its air force can’t intercept things behind Ukrainian lines,” Lee said. “They don’t have many long-range UAVs that can hit targets behind enemy lines. Therefore, they cannot prevent Ukraine from reinforcing its positions and resupplying… And many of their UAVs are shot down or lost due to electronic warfare.” While Russia is apparently seeking to increase domestic production of such drones, it is hampered by Western sanctions and export controls, which have halted the flow of semiconductor chips necessary to produce such weapons, analysts said. “They rely on the black market, but the needs are huge,” Alperovitch said. “You need chips for everything from precision guided missiles to aircraft to tanks, not to mention civilian items in their own domestic industries. So there is a lot of demand in Russia for chips, and if Russia can get fully manufactured drones from Iran, it doesn’t have to use the precious black market chip supply to make its own drones.” Analysts said the drone transfer was unlikely to affect ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, which are proceeding on a separate path and aimed at a different goal: eliminating Iran’s ability to rapidly build a nuclear bomb. But the further strengthening of military ties between Iran and Russia is a worrying development for the United States and its allies, experts say. “The ever-closer alliance gives Russia some depth of military procurement, which will be welcome in Moscow,” said Clifford Kupchan, president of Eurasia Group. “The biggest message – that can be lost [Russian President Vladimir] Putin for now — is that one of the world’s supposedly leading militaries has to turn to Iran for help with key technologies, which shows how depleted its stockpile is.”
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The last: Grain shipments from Ukraine are being accelerated under the agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports had sent food prices skyrocketing and raised fears of more famine in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including cargoes of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed. The battle: The conflict on the ground continues as Russia uses its heavy artillery advantage to pound Ukrainian forces, which have at times managed to put up stiff resistance. In the south, Ukraine’s hopes rest on liberating the Russian-held region of Kherson, and eventually Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014. Fears of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant persist as both sides accuse each other of they bomb. The weapons: Western arms supplies are helping Ukraine slow Russian advances. US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) allow Ukrainian forces to strike further behind Russian lines against Russian artillery. Russia has used a range of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts. Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground since the start of the war — here are some of their strongest works. How you can help:…
