Iran and Russia plan to build UAVs factory in Tatarstan

Russia and Iran are moving ahead with plans to build a plant for the production of combat drones in the city of Yelabuga in Tatarstan.

The Wall Street Journal reported about this with reference to its own sources.

According to the officials, an Iranian delegation visited Russia in early January.

They inspected the place where the plant is planned to be built and agreed on the details of the project.

“The leaders of the two countries are planning to build a new factory that could make at least 6,000 drones in the coming years,” according to WSJ.

The plant has not yet been built, so the production line is not expected to have an immediate impact on the balance of power in Ukraine.

Officials said both countries are seeking to develop an improved version of the Shahed-136 drones.

The new version is planned to be faster than the current version.

The publication writes that the probable plant is planned to be built in the city of Yelabuga in Tatarstan.

According to the officials, the Iranian delegation was led by Brigadier General Abdullah Mehrabi, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Forces Research, and Ghassem Damavandian, the head of Iran’s Quds Aviation Industry, a key defense manufacturer that the U.S. believes plays a central role in developing and building drones.

Russia used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine’s energy systems. At first, Iran officially rejected accusations of supplying weapons to Russian troops, and the invaders disguised the Iranian equipment under the Russian name “Geran-2”.

As previously reported, on February 3, the U.S. Department of the Treasury introduced sanctions against eight high-ranking officials of the Iranian drone manufacturer in response to Tehran’s supply of drones to Russia for the war against Ukraine.