{"id":32639,"date":"2024-03-27T14:24:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T14:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2024\/03\/27\/attack-drones-at-heart-of-military-partnership-between-russia-iran\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:34:53","slug":"attack-drones-at-heart-of-military-partnership-between-russia-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/uas\/2024\/03\/27\/attack-drones-at-heart-of-military-partnership-between-russia-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Attack drones at heart of \u2018military partnership\u2019 between Russia, Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine is buttressed by Iranian technologies, drawing alarm from U.S. lawmakers and military officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was once simple collaboration between two governments has in the past year blossomed into a \u201cnascent military partnership,\u201d according to a U.S. Central Command assessment<\/a> submitted this month to Congress. The command was the keystone of the U.S. war on terror; its remit includes Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tehran has provided Moscow\u2019s war machine at least 1,000 attack drones and dozens of multipurpose unmanned aerial systems for use against Ukrainian troops, with future plans to aid domestic production, said CENTCOM boss Gen. Michael Kurilla. Those figures are up dramatically from just months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ukrainian air defenses intercept a Shahed drone May 30, 2023. (Evgeniy Maloletka\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe relationship between Iran and Russia? That really started when they asked for them to provide the one-way attack UAS, specifically the Shahed-136,\u201d Kurilla told the House Armed Services Committee<\/a> on March 21. \u201cThey started providing complete systems, and they built an actual factory in Russia, and those same Shahed-136 \u2014 a very capable system \u2014 are now going at a rate of over 100 a week from Russia into Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footage of Russian production lines was shared online earlier this year. On display were rows of black and grey Shahed clones: airframes with triangular bodies, rounded spines, stubby nose cones and vertical stabilizers extending above and below the wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Militaries and militant groups are increasingly using drones and other unmanned technologies to collect intelligence and strike from greater distances. Their battlefield applicability is highlighted by the Russia-Ukraine war as well as Houthi harassment in the Red Sea<\/a> and Gulf of Aden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran is implicated in both aggressions, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency, a principal source of foreign intel for combat operations. Russian troops and Houthi rebels alike have adopted the Shahed, known among the respective forces as the Geran or Waid, agency analysis shows. The model offers users an explosive payload with more than 1,000 miles of range, all at relatively low cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\t