While the West seems to have almost definitively turned its back on Russia, following the start of the war in Ukraine, Moscow looking for new allies. After China, with whom it cooperates enormously on the economic level, Russia is also working more and more with Iran. A worrying rapprochement.
This diplomatic rapprochement would also be military. Indeed, it was discovered that Tehran would actively work around a brand new suicide drone (also called “kamikaze drone”). This new generation device would look quite distinctly like a drone Lancet, signed by the Russian armed forces. Used in Syria, it is also used on the Ukrainian ground.
A new Iranian drone, inspired by the Russian Lancet
The existence of this device was directly confirmed by the Iranian news agency Tasnim, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps. In a paper, the journalists of this media affirm that this drone is quite directly inspired by the Russian Lancet. Able to fly within a radius of 40 kilometers from its starting point, this unnamed drone would also have a flight autonomy of 30 to 60 minutes.
Last point, it could carry 3 to 6 kilos of payload, thus being able to hit hard, quite quickly. If this machine is not a “copy and paste” of the Russian drone (which would mean a pure and simple transfer of technology) the numerous points of concordance give rise to fears, on the Western side, of a clear and clear rapprochement in terms of defense, two countries.
Technology transfer or reverse engineering?
Since 2022, Tehran has been delivering drones to Russia on a fairly regular basis, including Shaded 131 and Shaded 136. Iranian drones are seen as impactful, effective and above all inexpensive, which allows them to be powered and able to constantly strike. This announcement could therefore be followed by various orders from Moscow, even if the “official” release of this drone has not yet been confirmed by the authorities.
It cannot be excluded, moreover, that this new drone is the result of a simple reverse engineering process. Iran is particularly good at this, having already done so for a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel. Globally, it is an increasingly trendy practice. A few months ago, China and Turkey respectively announced the Sunflower 200 and theAzabdirectly inspired by drones Shahid.
