Russia uses drones made entirely of Chinese components in the war against Ukraine

A new Russian drone designed to deceive Ukrainian air defenses turned out to be made entirely of Chinese components.

This is reported by The Telegraph, citing Ukrainian intelligence data.

This is the first recorded case of Russia using a drone assembled entirely from Chinese parts. According to intelligence officials, this once again confirms the cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, despite official statements by the Chinese leadership about “neutrality” and the alleged absence of supplies of lethal weapons.

Intelligence seized two such drones — CBTS.611000 models, which are used as reconnaissance or decoys for Ukrainian air defense systems. If necessary, the drone can also carry a warhead weighing up to 15 kg.

It is noted that almost half of the components of one of the drones were manufactured by CUAV Technology (Guangdong Province). Among them are the autopilot, GPS modules, antennas, speed sensors and a Pitot tube. Although in 2022 the company announced a ban on the supply of products to Russia and Ukraine, its equipment continues to appear in Russian drones.

In addition, the detected UAVs contained engines and electronic igniters from Mile Haoxiang Technology, FPV cameras from Foxeer Technology, as well as a Chinese copy of the Australian RFD900X radio module manufactured by RFDesign. The latter provides data transmission between drones or between a drone and a ground station at a distance of up to 40 km, increasing the reconnaissance capabilities of the system.

The Ukrainian side views such facts as yet another proof of technological support for Russia from the PRC, despite public statements by the Chinese Foreign Ministry about compliance with the dual-use goods control regime.

Let us remind you that, despite Western sanctions, Russia continues to receive components for combat drones from China – primarily engines, which are supplied disguised as refrigeration equipment.

As reported, the drones with which Russia attacked Kyiv on the night of July 4 contained Chinese-made components.

In addition, despite the sanctions, the Russian company Aero-HIT, which receives state funding, has developed a project to produce combat drones in cooperation with Chinese firms . According to Bloomberg, this involves mass production of up to 10,000 drones per month at a factory near Khabarovsk. Such drones are already actively used by Russian troops, in particular in the Kherson direction.

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