China and Russia are jointly developing an attack drone like the Shahed – Bloomberg

China and Russia are jointly developing a strike drone similar to the Shahed, Bloomberg reports Yaroslav Pogonchuk

Russia and China are developing a new attack drone/Collage 24 Channel

Russia continues to actively strengthen its cooperation with China. According to the publication, Russian and Chinese companies are actively cooperating in the development and testing of a new attack UAV.

According to the publication, in 2023, companies from China and Russia have entered into a cooperation agreement. They aim to make an analogue of the Iranian Shahed, which is actively used in the war against Ukraine.

What is known about the drone that Russia is developing jointly with China

The companies have already begun developing and testing their version of the attack drone, which they plan to send to Russia. However, according to Chinese officials who wished to remain anonymous, these drones have not yet been used in Ukraine.

The publication notes that providing Russia with an analogue of the Shahed drones will indicate the deepening of Beijing’s support for Moscow, despite numerous warnings from the United States and its allies.

At the same time Currently, US officials say that China has so far refrained from direct supplies of weapons and artillery to Russia.

One person familiar with this issue, said the US assessed China was weighing whether to send fully built drones, but in the meantime was sending kits that could be converted into attack drones, the article said.

They added that despite this, the United States has not yet come to the conclusion that China is providing lethal assistance to Russia, although other countries may have a different interpretation of these events.

Worth Note that since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has used thousands of Shahed drones against Ukraine and built a factory to mass produce them.

However, Moscow is still dependent on supplies of critical parts and components from North Korea, Iran and China. Experts have expressed concerns that China could produce Shahed-like drones much faster than Iran or Russia.

As the publication notes, officials have not disclosed the type of drone being developed, but Chinese defense websites and several media outlets are reporting the development of a kamikaze attack drone called the Sunflower 200, which is similar in appearance to the Iranian Shahed 136.