ARTICLE
Russian Kamikaze Drones: Giant New Factory, Giant New Scam?
Forbes
David Hambling
Aug 11, 2023,07:46am EDT
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2023/08/11/russian-kamikaze-drones-giant-new-factory-giant-new-scam/?sh=27962aabebca
Forensic analysis by Conflict Armament Research of two kamikaze drones brought down over Ukraine shows that rather than being built Iran like previous models, these are Russian-made. As the New York Times reports, this may foreshadow a new supply and drones bombarding Kyiv on a scale never seen before. But revelations from an unexpected quarter show that the truth may be somewhat different: the threat is not what it appears.
Shahed kamikaze drones from Iran have been one of Russia’s most effective weapons. On August 3, Ukraine’s President Zelensky stated that Russia had launched almost 2,000 Shaheds at Ukraine, suggesting they may have used most of the 2,400 reportedly acquired from Iran in the original deal. Russia now plans to build the drones itself and in June the White House released pictures of the giant factory site in Russia chosen for the project. Ukrainian intelligence officials reported in July that production had already started. The new CAR report confirms this version has a modified design and some Russian components.
In July, analysts from the Defense Intelligence Agency told reporters that the manufacturing facility would turn out a stockpile of drones “orders of magnitude larger” that the numbers seen to date.
But an investigation into the site by Russian anti-Putin activists suggests that the purpose of the factory is not to manufacture drones, but to milk money from the system in an old-fashioned procurement scam. [EXCERPT]
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