In early November 2022, a CAR team had access to Shahed-131, Shahed-136 single-use UAVs, and a Mohajer-6 UAV used by Russia in Ukraine. Here's what we found 🧵 (1/7, report shortcut link: bit.ly/Iraniandrones, h/t @damspleet)
Through visual comparison with four UAV models documented in 2017-2022 in the Middle East, CAR confirms that the Shahed-131, Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6 UAVs used by Russia in Ukraine were made in #Iran (2/7) bit.ly/Iraniandrones
Investigators also documented a Qaem-5 precision-guided munition, with a May 2022 date mark, indicating Iran has carried out at least some supplies since the invasion in February 2022 (CAR has redacted unique marks while it conducts formal tracing, 3/7) bit.ly/Iraniandrones
The Shahed-131, Shahed-136, and Mohajer-6 UAVs were made almost exclusively of recently produced non-Iranian parts. Most of the components for which investigators could identify a date of manufacture were made in 2020-2021 (4/7) bit.ly/Iraniandrones
We found that 70 different manufacturers from 13 different countries produced the components. 82% of the components were made by US-based companies (5/7) bit.ly/Iraniandrones
Compared with other Iranian-linked systems used in the Middle East since 2017, CAR found that the Iranian single-use UAVs used by Russia in Ukraine demonstrate a significant jump in hardware. (6/7) bit.ly/Iraniandrones
The new report on Iranian UAVs used by Russia in Ukraine shows that Iran, like Russia, is highly dependent on foreign components to produce weapons. (7/7 @damspleet bit.ly/Iraniandrones
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