Reuters: China has started manufacturing Garpiya-3 drones for Russia

China has started manufacturing new Garpiya-3 drones for a Russian company.

Reuters reported on this with reference to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by journalists.

IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.

In a subsequent update, Kupol told the defense ministry that it was able to produce drones, including the G3, at scale at a factory in China so the weapons could be deployed in the war against Ukraine.

China’s foreign ministry told Reuters it was unaware of such a project, adding that the country has strict controls on the drone export.

American officials raised concerns last week about what they said was Chinese support of Russia’s war machine, declining to provide specifics.

Garpiya-3 drone

According to Kupol’s reports to the ministry, the G3 can travel about 2,000 km with a payload of 50 kg.

Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing.

According to two separate documents reviewed by Reuters, Kupol has received the delivery of seven military drones made in China, including two G3s, at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk.

The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, don’t specify delivery dates or identify the suppliers in China.

The two intelligence sources report that the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency had found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.

As previously reported, Russian troops are using ZFB-05 armored vehicles manufactured by the People’s Republic of China in the combat zone on the territory of Ukraine.