Over 2,500 of these drones have been created from July 2023 to July 2024 – The drone has been deployed against military and civilian targets in Ukraine, sources say
Russia began producing a new long-range attack drone, the Garpiya-A1, last year, using Chinese engines and components, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents seen by Reuters.
According to the sources, the drone has already been deployed in the war in Ukraine, despite there being no prior mention of a new Russian drone incorporating Chinese technology.
The information, which included a production contract for the new drone, company correspondence about the manufacturing process, and financial documents, revealed that the company IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey, produced over 2,500 Garpiya drones from July 2023 to July 2024. So far, IEMZ Kupol and Almaz-Antey have not responded to requests for comment.
Deployment Against Military and Civilian Targets
The two intelligence sources reported that the Garpiya, which means “Harpia” in Russian, has been deployed against military and political targets in Ukraine, causing damage to critical infrastructure and civilian and military casualties. They estimate that photographs of wreckage in Ukraine show a Garpiya. Reuters has found information supporting this conclusion but has not been able to independently verify the images.
Samuel Bennett, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, stated that if confirmed, the Garpiya would mark a shift from Russia’s reliance on Iranian designs for long-range drones. It could suggest that Russia might be relying on domestic development as well as China, as both countries depend on many Chinese components for drone production.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had stated in May that Iran had supplied Russia with over 1,000 Shahed kamikaze drones since the start of the invasion in February 2022, aimed at exhausting Ukrainian air defenses and targeting infrastructure away from the front lines. Iran has denied sending drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not responded to a request for comment. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters that the country tightly controls the export of items with potential military applications, including drones, adding that for the Ukrainian issue, Beijing is committed to promoting peace talks and a political resolution.
Stoltenberg’s Message to China
Last week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged China to stop supporting Russia in Ukraine and stated that Beijing’s assistance has played a crucial role in prolonging the conflict.
The Garpiya “looks very much like the Shahed,” but has several distinctive features, such as a unique screw wing and Limbach L-550 E engines, the European agency said in a statement to Reuters. The engine, initially designed and manufactured by a German company, is now produced in China by a local company, Xiamen Limbach. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Reuters reviewed a contract worth over 1 billion rubles (10 million euros) signed in the first quarter of 2023 between the Russian Ministry of Defense and Kupol for the development of a drone production facility.
According to the report, intelligence sources claimed that production uses a former cement factory in Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, western Russia, which Kupol purchased in 2020. Reuters claims it was able to identify the location.
Production Started in the First Half of 2023
The prototype of the Garpiya began in the first half of 2023. Production reached several hundred in the second half of 2023 and more than doubled to around 2,000 in the first half of 2024, the agency reported.
Bennett suggests that 2,500 drones annually would represent a significant portion of Russian production. Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated last month that Russia has launched nearly 14,000 kamikaze drones since its invasion in February 2022, including Iranian Shahed drones as well as Russian-made Geran-2 and Lancet drones.
Company documents from the second quarter of 2023 show that TSK Vektor procured components from Chinese companies for assembly at the Kupol site. 800 Chinese engines were also to be delivered to the new factory, with the production line expected to be operational by the end of the quarter. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The European intelligence agency’s statement expressed concern that Chinese companies continue to supply components enabling Russian production of large kamikaze drones. “The export of key components to Russia must stop,” it said.
U.S. Concerns
The U.S. has repeatedly warned Beijing about its support for the Russian defense industry and has imposed sanctions to limit Moscow’s ability to exploit certain technologies for military purposes. The U.S. government did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
In July, China announced it would tighten drone export regulations starting September 1. Beijing has stated that U.S. sanctions on Chinese entities related to the Ukraine war are “illegal and unilateral.”
Weight 300 kg and Maximum Range 1,500 Kilometers
The Garpiya has a takeoff weight of less than 300 kg and a maximum range of 1,500 kilometers, according to the production contract between Kupol and the Russian Ministry of Defense – approximately similar to the Iranian Shahed-136 drones extensively used by Moscow in Ukraine.
The Washington Post reported in August that Russia planned to increase production of a domestic version of the Shahed-136, known as Geran-2, at a factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan. Ukraine claimed in April it had conducted a drone attack on a factory in Alabuga.
A third document reviewed by Reuters concerning the delivery status between intermediary TSK Vektor and manufacturer Kupol, dated the first quarter of 2024, details an order for 100 axles, carburetors, and other Limbach engine components sourced from two other Chinese companies: Juhang Aviation Technology and Redlepus Vector Industries. Both are based in Shenzhen. The former was sanctioned by the UK in February and by the U.S. in May for supplying drone equipment to Russia.
Customs data, obtained from a trade supplier tracking and compiling the information, showed that from April 2022 to December 2023, TSK Vektor imported goods worth $36.3 million from Chinese Juhang Aviation Technology and $6.2 million from Redlepus TSK Vector Industrial Shenzhen Co Ltd.
According to customs documents, the goods included aircraft engines, transistors, electronic modules, connectors, plugs, and sockets, most of which were labeled “for general civil use,” “for general industrial use,” and “for general civil use.”
