Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against six senior executives of a major Iranian defense manufacturing company. This is because the company is suspected of developing and producing drones on its own to Russia.
In addition to these people, the United States also announced sanctions against the president of the Iranian Aerospace Industry Organization. Although both Iranian and Russian spokesmen have denied that Iran has provided drones to Russia, the United States insists that this claim is true because in July 2022, they found out that Russia was trying to buy Iranian drones.
Doubts arose, why didn't Russia buy advanced drones from China, which has always had a good relationship, when the war on the front line was tight?
You know, China's drone technology is second to none in the world. Russia, on the contrary, has chosen to buy from Iran. All this happened on the night of February 21, 2022, after Russia announced its recognition of the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine.
The already tense relationship between Russia and Ukraine has become more tense as a result. On the 24th, Russia carried out a "special operation" against Ukraine, and the conflict between the two sides escalated.
Although most people once expected Russia's strong military might to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the conflict continues to this day. Back in 2021, relations between Russia and Ukraine had deteriorated, with both sides deploying large numbers of troops and ** on the border, and war seemed to be on the verge of breaking out.
However, surprisingly, no war broke out at that time, and it was not until the beginning of 2022 that the fighting began.
Contradictions have a long history, and Ukraine and Russia share the same roots, but due to their different developments, they have formed ethnic, territorial, and religious conflicts. Strategically located at the intersection of Eurasia and Western Europe, Ukraine has been a battleground in history and has been deeply invaded by countries such as Austria-Hungary.
Historically, Ukraine has had a contradiction between the beliefs of the East and the West, while during the Soviet era, Ukraine's relations with Russia were very close. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's relations with Russia have become strained again.
This is not only related to the pro-Russian or ** position of the leaders of the two countries, but also to the desire of some people in the eastern regions of Ukraine to join Russia and the rejection of Ukraine**.
In addition, Ukraine had the opportunity to become a military power, but due to the separation of the family, it received some nuclear ** and the Soviet military industry, which provided the possibility for Ukraine's future development.
Because Ukraine listened to the promises of the United States and Russia, it destroyed a large number of nuclear weapons, but it turned out to be a tool of struggle between major powers and was manipulated by NATO.
This result has cost Ukraine dearly, and it also makes people think deeply: in international relations, how should we distinguish between truth and falsehood, and how to make the right choice.
Ukraine's desire to join NATO is like putting a knife in Russia's neck, which could threaten its security at any time. Therefore, Russia is firmly opposed to Ukraine's accession to NATO and is taking steps to prevent this possible scenario from happening.
In 2013, the pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych**, the new **, began to accelerate the "de-Russification", trying to get rid of Russian influence and join NATO.
Since then, relations between Russia and Ukraine have become increasingly tense, and military confrontations and political sanctions have been repeatedly carried out. By February 2022, a large-scale conflict broke out between the two sides, which has been going on for almost a year.
Although Russia is one of the top three military powers in the world, it is very fast to consume ** equipment in modern warfare. The war on the front line in Russia is tight, because of the limited production capacity and the economy is not very good, it is not possible to produce the much-needed drones in a short time, so it can only buy them from other countries.
In modern warfare, whoever has more and more accurate intelligence is more likely to win. Drones play a key role in this process. They can detect the enemy before they are deployed, or destroy enemy missile launches at a distance from the target, and even throw artillery shells.
The history of drones dates back to 1917, when the United Kingdom built the world's first drone. After that, more and more countries realized the importance of UAVs and began to invest in research and development.
In the Vietnam War, drones first appeared on the battlefield, and their role gradually expanded. Especially in the war in Afghanistan, UAVs have repeatedly performed "decapitation" missions and achieved remarkable results.
Currently, the United States is leading in the field of UAVs. However, our country's UAV technology is not inferior, it is also at the forefront of the world, and we are also in the process of ** military and civilian UAVs to other countries.
The Pterodactyl UAV, the most advanced attack UAV in our country, has a long endurance and is capable of performing reconnaissance and strike missions. It has a maximum range of more than 4,000 kilometers and is equipped with KD-10 laser-guided missiles and LS-6GPS guided bombs developed by China, which can accurately hit long-distance targets.
Because of its excellent performance, the Pterodactyl UAV is known as the Chinese version of the "Predator". Another UAV developed by China, Rainbow 4, is a high-intelligence large-scale military UAV with a long endurance at medium altitude and integrating reconnaissance and strike.
It can not only give over-the-horizon early warning and collect intelligence, but also accurately hit low-speed or fixed targets on the ground. Even at an altitude of 5,000 meters, it can strike at ground and sea targets.
It reaches a maximum flight altitude of 8000 meters and a flight time of up to 38 hours.
China's air force has two highly powerful UAVs, of which the Attack-1 UAV can carry out long-lasting target reconnaissance and strikes, and has the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of damage.
It can also provide precision guidance when anti-tank missiles need to be fired. In addition, China's research and development of WJ-600 high-altitude and high-speed UAV is also very good, it can carry out reconnaissance and mount a variety of types of air-to-ground missiles, strike targets, and even control the best UAV combat through it, the functions are very rich.
Despite the fact that China's drone technology is already very advanced, it is surprising that Russia does not buy any drones from China.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine has received support and assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland and other countries, while Russia has fallen into an isolated situation and has few allies, and China can be regarded as one of them.
Although China and Russia have always maintained friendly relations, Russia, when it needs help, has chosen to buy drones from Iran instead of China. The reason is very simple, our country has always maintained a neutral position in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and will not break this principle to any party, even if the relationship with Russia is good.
Japan has always advocated peace and will not participate in international wars or interfere in regional affairs. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a contradiction between the two countries, and our country will not intervene like the United States and other countries, leading to the escalation of the contradiction and the people of the two countries continuing to be in the midst of war.
Russia has been cooperating with our country for a long time and is well aware of the technological strength of our country. Therefore, when it came time to purchase UAVs, our trusted partner Iran was chosen. Although China's UAVs have advanced performance, taking into account factors such as **, technical compatibility and time cost, Russia has chosen a more practical option.
After all, on the battlefield, time is of the essence, and any delay can lead to defeat.
Historically, the United States has tried to obtain oil by intervening in the affairs of the Middle East, but the conspiracy was uncovered by Iran, which led to the breakdown of relations between the two countries. Although Iran is not as strong as the United States, they resolutely oppose hegemonism and Western colonialism, and have repeatedly counterattacked the United States, giving the United States a headache.
Coupled with the blood feud between the two countries, the United States tried to assassinate Khamenei, but the assassination was unsuccessful due to his mysterious identity and position in the Islamic community and Iran. Therefore, the United States chose to assassinate Qassem Soleimani, the number two person in Iran, known as the "spy king of the Middle East".
At the beginning of 2021, Soleimani was killed in a missile attack by the US military at Baghdad International Airport, and Iran has always remembered this blood debt.
In Iran, they are well aware of the importance of drones, but are not content with being completely dependent on imports. During the Pahlavi dynasty, Iran imported drones from the United States, but it was not until after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war that they really understood the importance of drones, began to vigorously develop their own aviation industry, and said that they would independently develop drones.
However, in fact, they borrowed American technology in the research and development process, such as the "Witness-171" developed by Iran, which almost completely imitates the American RQ-170 "Sentinel" drone.
However, Iran is very practical in the research and development process, and the materials used are cost-effective, making the cost relatively low. Moreover, the ground control station vehicle of the military drone they developed is very unique, even ordinary trucks or commercial vehicles can be carried, and the practicality is very high.
At present, Iran has developed more than 10 kinds of UAVs with actual combat capabilities, including the Mohaj series, the Migrants series, the Witness series and so on.
Iranian drones, although they are not comparable to those of our country, have withstood the test of time. In 2016, the Witness-129 successfully attacked ground targets with anti-tank missiles; In 2019, an Iranian drone flew for an hour near a U.S. aircraft carrier before it was discovered; In September 2020, it successfully broke through the air defense system of the US aircraft carrier battle group for close-range shooting.
These performances are enough to prove that the strength of Iranian drones cannot be ignored. It just so happens that the drones that Russia needs can collect Ukrainian intelligence, and they don't need overly powerful strike capabilities.