Russia agreed with Iran on the delivery of new attack drones Arash-2, – ISW
Russia signed a contract with Iran for the supply of Arash-2 drones, which are superior in parameters to the Shahed-136, which the Russians are already using against Ukraine. This is reported by the Institute for the Study of War.
American analysts suggest that Russia has concluded a new contract with Iran for the supply of Arash-2 drones. They refer to Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels that reported leaks from unspecified Iranian sources that Russia had acquired an undisclosed number of Arash-2 drones, which are said to be faster and more destructive than the Shahed-136 drones currently in use by the Russians military
ISW points out that the commander of Iran’s ground forces, Brigadier General Kiomars Heydari, previously stated that the Arash-2 drones have unique long-range capabilities and can target cities in Israel such as Tel Aviv and Haifa from bases in Iran.
The reports that Moscow continues to rely on Tehran for weapons are consistent with a US Treasury report indicating that Russia is rapidly increasing its supply of microelectronics, which are critical to the military-industrial complex because they cannot replace key components, unavailable due to sanctions.
“Russia will likely continue to use its relationship with Iran to circumvent sanctions, although it is highly unlikely that Russian forces will use the Arash-2 to any greater effect than they used the Shahed-136 model,” ISW concluded.
On August 30, it became known that Iran secretly supplies Russia with attack drones, which are used in the war against Ukraine.
On October 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran denied the delivery of kamikaze drones to the Russian Federation.
On October 14, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced that the Russian army currently has about 300 drones supplied by Iran.
