The russian project for the production of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones in the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, which became known in June 2023, has already been scaled, at least, to two production lines.
However, at the moment we are not talking about the full production of drones exclusively by their own forces in russia, because these are assembly lines. The only thing that is currently manufactured in the russian federation independently is the body of the aircraft. Such data was disclosed in an interview with RBC-Ukraine by the Deputy Chief of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Vadym Skibitskyi.
Read more: Iran is Helping Russia Build a Drone Factory for the War in Ukraine - White House
"What Moscow has achieved so far is the establishment of the production of the airframe - the body of these UAVs. russia already produces them independently. More spare parts and parts are now coming from other countries, that is, everything is not limited only to Iran. Our assessment is that the russian federation is capable and it already produces or assembles unmanned aerial vehicles on its own territory," Vadym Skibitsky said.
As the representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine stated, the russian federation has diversified its supply of components and relies not only on Iran. In particular, the Shahed-136 UAV, which was shot down in Ukraine, was found to have engines supplied by at least three or four foreign companies, including Chinese ones.
According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine estimate, russians can assemble 330-350 Shahed-136 UAVs per month.
Such indicators, for example, were demonstrated by the aggressor in December. However, they also vary depending on the availability of components, especially engines.
"The goal of Moscow is to achieve a complete, closed cycle of production of such UAVs on Russian territory by 2026. I'm not sure they can replace or find a Russian analog, such as electronic components – microchips, chips, etc. But the Russian Federation currently manufactures starters, casings, warheads, engines, and other elements of the navigation system," - Vadym Skibitsky noted.
As Defense Express reported, russia Wanted to Make 6,000 Shahed-136. We also wrote on How Could Ukraine Thwarted Shahed-136 Production in russia.
Read more: The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine: russia Ramps Up Production of Shahed Drones
