Iran supplies Russia with combat drones
Iran is delivering combat drones to Russia. The first shipment of Shahed-129 drones has already been sent through the Caspian Sea, reported the Ukrainian news website Censor.net.
According to journalists, the military cargo from Iran will be delivered to Astrakhan and Volgograd, and then to the Ukrainian border. The Shahed-129 drones were designed on the basis of the Israeli Hermes 450 drone and the American MQ-1 Predator.
The length of the drone’s fuselage is 8 meters. The wingspan is 16 meters. The combat load is up to 400 kg. Flight speed is up to 150 km / h. The flight range is up to 1700 km. The drone designers claim that it can be in the air for up to 24 hours.
It is intended to be used for operational surveillance and reconnaissance and destruction of enemy.
On July 12, the White House said it had intelligence data that Iran was preparing to supply Russia with several hundred drones, including combat ones. The next day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Iran was not going to supply the UAVs to Russia, and in general, Iran "is trying to avoid any actions that could lead to the escalation in Ukraine."
On July 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin went on a visit to Iran, where he held talks not only with the country's leadership, but also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Before Putin's visit to Tehran, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration Oleksiy Arestovich said that Putin intends to ask the Iranian authorities to supply Russia with combat drones.