WSJ: China helped Iran develop the Shahed — and Russia develop jet-powered drones
When Iran was developing the Shahed, it needed an engine capable of running at high speed and temperature for hours.
The foundation was the German Limbach L 550 E engine. Iran later created its own copy using cheap components from China.
After the war began, Iran transferred Shaheds and production equipment to Russia. According to the WSJ, Chinese businessmen also helped the Iranian military find suppliers in China.
Chinese components are now increasingly used in Russian Shaheds — including antennas, modems and SIM cards for navigation and route correction.
And according to the WSJ, the engines for Russia’s jet-powered Shaheds are manufactured by the Chinese company Telefly Telecommunications Equipment.
After Ukraine reported finding its products in Russian drones, the company removed the turbojet engines from the English-language version of its website.
However, they remain available on the Chinese-language version of the site and from local sellers.China helped Iran develop the Shahed — and Russia develop jet-powered drones.
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