Iranian kamikaze drones used in the latest attacks on Ukrainian cities are filled with European components, according to a secret document sent by Kyiv to its western allies.
In a 47-page document submitted by Ukraine’s government to the G7 governments in August, it is claimed there were more than 600 raids on cities using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) containing western technology in the previous three months.
Document also mentioned 52 electrical components manufactured by western companies were found in the Shahed-131 drone and 57 in the Shahed-136 model, which has a flight range of 2,000km (1,240 miles) and cruising speed of 180kmh (111mph).
Five European companies including a Polish subsidiary of a British multinational are named as the original manufacturers of the identified components.
Among the manufacturers are companies headquartered in the countries of the sanctions coalition: the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland.
Document says, Iran has already diversified its production through the use of a Syrian factory delivering to the Russian port of Novorossiysk but the production of drones is shifting to Russia, to the central Tartar region of Alabuga, although Tehran continues to supply the components.
Among the suggestions for action by Ukraine’s are “missile strikes on the production plants of these UAVs in Iran, Syria, as well as on a potential production site in the Russian federation”.
The document goes on: “The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defence forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction.”
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the western companies whose parts have been identified. “Iranian UAV production has adapted and mostly uses available commercial components, the supply of which is poorly or not controlled at all,” the paper says.
Western components found in downed Shahed 136 drones in recent months includes a fuel pump manufactured in Poland by the German company Ti Automotive Gmbh, of which the British multinational TI Fluid Systems is the parent company.
An integrated circuit of a buffer network driver and a transistor made by International Rectifier, a subsidiary of the German firm Infineon Technologies AG.
In the Shahed-131 model, the Ukrainian experts identified a 14-channel, customisable integrated power management circuit and a microprocessor made by the Dutch company NXP Semiconductor and a power transistor and integrated circuit from International Rectifier.
A 32-bit microcontroller, a 32-bit processor, a microcontroller with built-in flash memory and a very low-voltage drop regulator with inhibitor made by STMicroelectronics was also found, and a GPS tracker chip made by the Swiss firm U-blox.
