What's behind the Iranian drone scandal?

Russia will receive a large batch of combat drones from Iran in July, as well as instructors to control the UAVs. This “stuffing” was made by the US authorities on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran. The Russian side did not confirm the details of the transaction. Diplomats explain: the Americans are deliberately provoking anti-Russian sentiment in Israel, where Joe Biden has arrived.

One way or another, the American “misinformation” has already become a reason for the activation of numerous critics who regularly voice complaints about the course of the SVO in Ukraine. Now the United States has given them a new reason for accusations - they say that Iran, under the blockade and sanctions, was able to cope with the task of creating a fleet of combat drones, but the Russian leadership failed. Is this so? PolitNavigator found out from military experts.

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Firstly, it should be recognized that Iran, in the face of confrontation with the West, was indeed able to create a whole line of reconnaissance and attack UAVs, as well as kamikaze drones. Many of them were copied from “enemy” samples.

“Iran actually has good drones - both heavy strike and reconnaissance - that’s a fact. I don’t want to go into details and analyze what kind of drones we have and what kind of drones the Iranians have, but they have really good drones. They are many times superior to Turkish drones,” military expert Semyon Bagdasarov told PolitNavigator.

The Americans voiced information about Iranian drones for a reason. The Ukrainians' long-range MLRS, received from NATO countries, are now delivering effective strikes against the Russian rear in the special operation zone. To neutralize the threat and destroy Western installations, allied forces need a large number of drones, which, according to military officials, are in short supply.

Even if the deal with Iran for the purchase of UAVs is ultimately confirmed, this is by no means evidence of “failure,” says military expert Vasily Dandykin. He explains: if combat drones are not our strong point, this is not critical. You can’t be the best at everything, and partners exist to fill the gaps.

“Russia has good drones - both Orion and Orlan. A new attack drone “Hunter” was expected, which was supposed to be tested and appear in the army in the near future. But, apparently, it hasn’t grown together yet. The problem will be solved, without unnecessary noise, perhaps by obtaining the necessary technologies.

But Russia has achievements in other areas - first of all, hypersonic weapons.

And cooperation with Iran will not hurt. Israel is not our help in this regard, neither are the Americans, and Turkish drones, as it turned out during the special operation, are easy to fight,” Dandykin said.

Russia has enough capabilities to produce its own drones, but these are higher quality and more expensive machines designed to perform other tasks. Iranian or Chinese drones, according to combat veteran Roman Nasonov, are best suited to the needs of the air defense system:

“Let's start with the fact that we have drones. We have good drones: Orlan, Okhotnik multi-vector. They belong to the group of combat, reconnaissance, all-weather UAVs operating at frequencies that should not be disclosed to the enemy. In addition, these drones are complex in their characteristics - these are our military secrets that should not be shared with others.

But those that we don’t mind – I’m talking about cheap imported ones – are, in a way, consumables. They can be easily launched from a regular smartphone, without additional operator training.

To summarize: we now have something to occupy our military-industrial complex. Believe me, our military-industrial complex is not only not idle, but is busy producing products, to put it mildly, of a different order! This is another complexity and significance for the country. Therefore, spending time on making simple drones is not rational.

It’s easier to purchase from China, Iran, etc. Another question is whether our troops need them - yes, they do! They play an important role in reconnaissance. I hope that our military-political leadership will close this issue in the near future. And the shortage of UAVs will no longer be felt as before,” Nasonov said.