Russian and Chinese companies are developing a drone analogous to Iran’s Shahed attack drone, Hromadske reports.
This indicates that Beijing is preparing to transfer lethal weapons to Moscow. Western officials had previously warned about this.
Bloomberg writes about this, citing European officials who are familiar with this issue.
It is known that in 2023, Chinese and Russian companies held talks on cooperation in creating a new drone, after which its development began, and later testing. According to the agency’s sources, these drones have not yet been used in the war against Ukraine.
Bloomberg’s interlocutors did not name the type of drone that the Chinese and Russians are working on together. However, Chinese defense websites and several media outlets have reported that Beijing is developing a Sunflower 200 kamikaze attack drone that has the same characteristics as Iran’s Shahed 136.
Providing Russia with such drones would mean an increase in Beijing’s support for Moscow, Bloomberg writes.
At the same time, U.S. officials say that China is refraining from directly providing weapons and artillery, which would mean an unprecedented escalation. China also claims that it does not provide weapons to any of the parties to the conflict.
Back in May, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that China had either transferred or was preparing to transfer lethal weapons to Russia to use in the war against Ukraine.
