Iranian drones hitting Ukraine are made from 'made in USA' parts

Wreckage of an Iranian "Shahed-136" drone.

More than two-thirds of the parts used to manufacture these devices come from American companies.

© Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The Russian military is increasingly using Iranian drones to strike civilian targets in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian military had shot down more than 80 such machines in two days.

Only then, Ukrainian and British experts have examined a few copies of these Iranian drones under the magnifying glass.

And they discovered that the parts from which these drones are made come more than two-thirds from American companies.

Publicity

Read more

The Iranian

Shahed-136

drone , examined by a group of Ukrainian experts, contained 52 components.

Forty of them, from the semiconductor to the motor, were manufactured by thirteen different American companies.

Expert committee 

This information is taken very seriously in Washington.

The Biden administration has created a committee of experts who must answer this thorny question: how are these American-made parts in Iranian drones? 

Contacted by several American media, the companies concerned in the United States ensured that they respected the sanctions which prohibit any sale of armaments or equipment that could be used to produce them in Tehran. 

Front companies

Specialists, brought together by the White House, do not believe that the fault is at the level of American manufacturers.

Instead, they suspect Iran and Russia of buying the material in question through front companies.

These are difficult to unmask and therefore even more difficult to control. 

►Also read

: Iran admits having delivered drones to Russia before the war in Ukraine

 (

November 5, 2022

)

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

  • Russia

  • Ukraine

  • Iran

  • Defense

  • Industry

  • United States