Kremlin Running Out Of Drones Due To Iran Setbacks, Russian Workforce

Russia is running low on Iranian-designed Shaheed drones because Iran is suffering from production and energy shortages. The Russians have not stockpiled Shaheeds because they have been using them as soon as they are delivered. 

At the same time, Shaheed manufacturing facilities in Russia cannot find enough workers, in part because the factories have been built too close to the front and are vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. In addition, the Kremlin is having trouble sourcing sufficient parts. JL

Ukrinform reports:

The Russians have failed to set up deliveries of Shahed kamikaze drones from Iran in abundant numbers while the Iranians are unlikely to increase production as their "energy system is collapsing". Institutions in Iran are closed or operating short working days, educational facilities have switched to online, and industrial enterprises have been in blackout. Russia doesnt have enough workers to produce a certain parts or assemblies and they cannot improve their Shaheeds enough to allow them to escape Ukraine's air defense systems." This means that, due to building factories that are vulnerable to airstrikes, they are trying to disperse production in order to minimize risks." 

The Russians have failed to set up deliveries of Shahed kamikaze drones from Iran in abundant numbers while the Iranians are unlikely to increase production as their "energy system is collapsing".

This was reported on national television by the chair of the Ground Forces Reservists Council Ivan Tymochko, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"They have so far failed to ensure the deliveries of Shaheds from Iran in abundant numbers. And especially now that we understand Iran’s concerns over multiple problems, they are unlikely to increase scale up production for Russia as their energy system is on the verge of collapse," he informed.

 

Video of the dayTymochko explained that the Russians are indeed trying to scale up own production of kamikaze drones but they lack qualified workforce to this end.

"I'm not talking about other specialists - they don't have enough workers to, say, produce a certain group of parts or assemblies on the production lines. This means that, after all, in addition to building factories that are quite vulnerable to airstrikes, they are actually trying to somehow disperse production of these parts... in order to minimize risks," said Tymochko.He noted that Russia’s introduction of changes and simplifications into Shahed’s components is part of the attempts to increase their e-warfare resistance.

"They are trying to change their outlines or recognizability, or aerial visibility to prevent our air defense systems from tracking them. They are also trying to make them as cheap as possible in parallel lines, to be minimally dependent on any specific components. Therefore... we see that they are gaining mass, but they cannot improve those Shaheeds to an extent that would allow them to escape our air defense systems," Tymochko stated.

He informed that currently, Shaheds’ main task is not to hit targets but to exhaust Ukrainian air defenses.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on December 22, The New York Times reported that government institutions in Iran are closed or operating short working days, educational facilities have switched to online mode, and industrial enterprises have been in blackout, which led to an almost complete shutdown of production due to the energy crisis.