Russia Reportedly Traded Captured NATO Weapons To Iran For Drones

Just as NATO is reverse engineering Russian and Iranian weapons, so Iran is intent on doing the same. JL 

Howard Altman reports in The Drive:

Russia flew about $141 million in cash and a selection of American and British-made weapons captured in Ukraine to Iran in return for dozens of combat drones to use in its war in Ukraine. A Russian military Il-76 Candid transport aircraft “secretly transported the cash and three models of munition - a [British Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon, or] NLAW anti-tank missile, a US Javelin anti-tank missile and a Stinger anti-aircraft missile - to an airport in Tehran in the early hours of 20 August.”

In August, Russia flew about $141 million in cash and a selection of American and British-made weapons captured in Ukraine to Iran in return for dozens of combat drones to use in its war in Ukraine, Sky News reported Tuesday, citing an anonymous "security source."

Sky News reported that a Russian military Il-76 Candid transport aircraft “secretly transported the cash and three models of munition - a [British Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon, or] NLAW anti-tank missile, a US Javelin anti-tank missile and a Stinger anti-aircraft missile - to an airport in Tehran in the early hours of 20 August.”

 

It was unclear from the Sky News report whether just the missiles or the whole weapon systems were reportedly exchanged. In the case of the Javelin, for instance, the complete system includes a Command Launch Unit, CLU, which is reusable and has a thermal imaging system, among other things.

The NLAW, Javelin, and Stinger “had been part of a shipment of UK and US military equipment intended for the Ukrainian military that ‘fell into Russian hands,’” the source told Sky News.

Videos of Russians capturing these kinds of weapons, among others, in Ukraine first emerged early on in the all-out invasion, but it is unknown just how many they have seized in the course of the fighting.

The possession of those weapons “could give Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) the ability to study Western technology and potentially copy it,” according to Sky News. The outlet's source added that "they will probably be reverse-engineered and used in future wars."

In return for the cash and weapons, Iran supplied Russia with more than 160 drones, including 100 Shahed-136 drones, the source claimed.

A Shahed-136 drone during an attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022. Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images

The source alleged that a further drone deal worth about $201 million had been agreed upon between Tehran and Moscow in the past few days.

As evidence to support the claim, the security source shared “satellite imagery that they said showed two Russian military cargo planes at an airport in Tehran,” with Sky News. However, they said that only one of those aircraft had been responsible for transporting the cash and captured western weapons.

The War Zone could not independently verify the Sky News report. Asked about the story at a Tuesday press briefing, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said while he had seen it, he didn’t have “any information to provide."

Last week Ryder, in response to questions about a U.S.-led effort to track weapons provided to Ukraine, said "we have no evidence of widespread diversion of U.S. security assistance in Ukraine."

Before we head into more of the latest news from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can get caught up with our previous rolling coverage of the war here.

The Latest

As Ukraine continues to push its southern offensive closer to Kherson City, satellite images have emerged of Russians setting up long lines of defense along the east bank of the Dnipro River. The images, compiled by OSINT analyst Benjamin Pittet, @DefMon3, @NLWartracker and Tim Ehrhart, show Russia apparently building what Euromaidan Press likened to a series of fortifications akin to the "Atlantic Wall" constructed by Germany during WWII to try and prevent an allied invasion.

Asked by The War Zone about the significance of those fortifications, Ryder, generally reluctant to offer battlefield analysis from the Pentagon briefing room podium, said it could portend one of two things.

"We do know that the Russians are establishing defenses," he said. "In terms of what their plans may be, it could be one or two things and I'm gonna break my rule on this and speculate here a little bit. It could be that they are looking to defend that territory for the long term, or it could be part of a rearguard action, as they look to retrograde out of that area."

Russians might use ships, seen in these images below, to assist any pullout from Kherson City.

Either way, the Pentagon continues to see "the Ukrainians apply pressure on" Russian forces, according to Ryder.

Serhii Khlan, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the Kherson Oblast Council, said the real battle for Kherson City is still to come.

"Once it starts, the Orcs will definitely feel it," Khlan said on his Facebook page Tuesday, using a derogatory term for Russians common in Ukraine. "Let them prepare, because for them there is a period of 'difficult decisions' ahead."

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Russia continues to try to blunt Ukraine’s offensive in the Kharkiv Oblast while Russia is continuing its offensive operations in Donetsk, according to the latest assessment from the Institute for The Study of War think tank. Here are some of its key takeaways:

• Russian troops continued efforts to fix Ukrainian troops against the international border in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast.
• Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensive operations in the Svatove direction.
• Russian sources claimed that Russian troops conducted limited counterattacks to regain lost positions west of Kreminna.
• Russian sources widely claimed that proxy and Wagner Group troops entered the outskirts of Bilohorivka.
• Russian troops continued offensive operations around Bakhmut, in the Avdiivka-Donetsk City area, and in western Donetsk Oblast.
• Ukrainian forces conducted limited interdiction efforts against Russian concentration areas in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to make public statements and signed additional decrees to portray himself as taking steps to fix fundamental problems with partial mobilization in Russia.
• Russian and occupation officials continue to abduct Ukrainian children, intimidate civilians, and escalate filtration measures.

With Russian drones and missiles severely damaging Ukraine’s power infrastructure, the U.S. and allies are considering the possibility of sending that embattled nation equipment to help it survive the looming winter, Ryder said Tuesday afternoon.

“These Russian missile strikes have taken out a significant portion of Ukraine's energy grid. That's affected the hydro electricity capabilities,” Ryder told reporters, including from The War Zone. “And so while I don't have anything to announce today,” discussions are ongoing “in terms of how the U.S. and allies and partners can assist. And again, without getting ahead, we are looking at things like generators, water purification, heaters, things like that. So when we have something to announce, we'll be sure to put that out.”Ryder’s comments came after Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, was in Kyiv and announced a $25 million USAID package to support Ukrainians particularly vulnerable to a lack of power.