China is developing a copy of the Iranian Shahed drone for supplies to the Russian Federation – Bloomberg

China is developing a copy of the Iranian Shahed drone for supplies to the Russian Federation, Bloomberg reports, citing European officials. According to them, the first negotiations on cooperation on copying took place in 2023, and the development and testing of UAVs began in the current year.

The publication notes that in this way Beijing may come closer to providing lethal assistance to the Russian Federation, which Western officials warn it against. This would signal an unprecedented escalation and almost certainly trigger more drastic action, such as sanctions, against the second largest economics peace. Providing Moscow with drones for attack purposes would cross the line into lethal assistance. As one of the publication’s interlocutors said, China is weighing whether to send fully finished drones, but in the meantime it is supplying kits that can be converted into attack drones.



Bloomberg pointed out that the Russian Federation still relies on countries such as North Korea and Iran, as well as China, for the supply of critical parts and components. Beijing can produce drones like the Shahed much faster than Iran or Russia, according to European officials.

A number of media outlets have reported that China is developing a kamikaze attack drone called the Sunflower 200, which is similar in description to the Iranian Shahed 136.