The Yelabuga drone factory is an
unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...
and
loitering munition
A loitering munition (also known as a suicide drone[Loitering Muniti ...](_blank)
factory in the
Alabuga Special Economic Zone
Alabuga (russian: Алабуга) is a special economic zone of an industrial and production type located in a 20 km² area in the Yelabuzhsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan in the Kama Innovative Territorial Production Cluster 10  ...
, near
Yelabuga
Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and eas ...
, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, operated by the Russian company Albatross. It develops drones for military use in the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
.
Overview
The manufacturing plant develops
Shahed-style loitering munitions and "Albatross" reconnaissance drones.
It is located in the
Alabuga Special Economic Zone
Alabuga (russian: Алабуга) is a special economic zone of an industrial and production type located in a 20 km² area in the Yelabuzhsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan in the Kama Innovative Territorial Production Cluster 10  ...
, near
Yelabuga
Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and eas ...
, Repbulic of Tatarstan, Russia, more than 1,300km from the
Ukraine-Russia border.
Within the Special Economic Zone, the drones are reportedly referred to as "boats" (russian: лодок). "Big boat" refers to the
Shahed-136
The HESA Shahed 136 ( fa, شاهد ۱۳۶, literally " Witness-136"), or Geran-2 in Russian service, is an Iranian loitering munition in the form of an autonomous pusher-prop drone. It is designed and manufactured by Shahed Aviation Industr ...
, called the "Geran-2" in Russian service, while "small boat" refers to the
Shahed 131
The Shahed 131, or Geran-1 in Russian service, is an Iranian-made drone which came to prominence in October 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is powered by a Wankel engine model Shahed-783/788. Janes created an in-depth technica ...
, called the "Geran-1" in Russian service.
The project as a whole has been called "Project Boat."
Other code words used by engineers include "bumpers" to refer to explosive payloads, and "Ireland" or "Belarus" to refer to Iran.
The agreement between Iran and Russia has been describe as a
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
by ''The Washington Post'', in which Iran shares project documentation, locally produced or reverse-engineered components, and technical knowledge.
The facility was built near the
, allowing direct transportation via ship directly from
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
through the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...
.
The plant was built with materials provided by Iran.
The plant is operated by Albatross, a Russian company that previously made agricultural technologies,
and now produces drones for use in the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
.
Albatross has developed long-range reconnaissance drones for use in the war, called "Albatross" or "Albatros M5" drones.
Before and during the plant's development, Iran supplied loitering munitions for Russia to use in the invasion of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
. The factory opened in July 2023.
Russia initially intended to build 6,000 drones by summer 2025
at a rate of 310 drones per month, operating the factory 24 hours a day.
Following that, Russia planned to produce an additional 6,000 Shahed attack drones per year, in addition to surveillance drones.
It predicted the cost of production of one
Geran-2 would be , or of the cost to purchase.
By April 2024, Western sources reported the plant had already produced 4,500 Shahed drones,
and that, due to upgrades, the cost of production per unit has increased to around .
Russian soldiers are trained to operate the drones in
Syria by the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
and the Iran-backed militant group
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramil ...
,
each designated terrorist organizations by several nations.
Employment
Leaked documents showed Alabuga has struggled to staff the factory. The initial plan included hosting 810 staff members working in three shifts to operate the manufactory 24 hours a day.
However, the staff lacked expertise in various aspects of drone development. Consequently, numerous employees, including managers, engineers, students, and manual labourers, have travelled to Iranian drone manufactories for training. By the end of spring 2023, 200 employees and 100 students had been trained at Iranian centres.
In an effort to recruit girls and women ages 16 to 22, Alabuga advertised
subsidized housing
Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housin ...
and a wage starting at $550 a month.
Due to employee discomfort in building weapons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Alabuga has since increased salaries. Some employees working at the drone manufactory earn ten times the median Russian wage.
Management have also seized passports to prevent people from quitting.
In July 2023, an investigation revealed the factory employs students as young as 15 of
Alabuga Polytech, a branch of the
Yelabuga Polytechnic College. As of August 2023, the factory had several hundred students employed.
The students were promised a job and a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000
rubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
() per month for a work experience program. Instead, students enrolled were forced into working at the drone facility,
where their salaries are contingent on meeting production quotas, sometimes working 15 hours shifts without overtime pay, and "often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health."
School staff instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work,
or they would be fined 1.5 million to 2 million rubles, per their employment contract with Alabuga Polytech.
Russian businessmen have been advertising and recruiting in Africa for the drone factory, specifically targeting girls and women.
''The Wall Street Journal'' reported one event in which the businessmen rented a hall at a school in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and ...
, the capital of Uganda, to pitch employment opportunities to young female students. The pitch advertised a work-study program for skilled labour, offering a wage triple what the women would earn in Uganda, free accommodations, and a university diploma. ''The Wall Street Journal'' also reported the tone and message of the work-study pitches were intended to be
anti-colonial
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
, "echoing some of the language of the
Cold War and reflecting Russia’s attempts to use soft power to dilute Western influence in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the histori ...
."
According to Ugandan officials, over 1,000 women from across Africa have gone to the Special Economic Zone, predicting a further 1,000 would join in 2024.
Drone development
Starting in January 2023, the plan for the drone factory was to implement production in three phases: The first phase was to reassemble (as
knock-down kit
A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, then exported to another country or region ...
s) 100 drones per month, imported from Iran. The second phase would include the drone factory producing its own airframes (the drones' hollow bodies). The third phase would include producing another 4,000 drones by September 2025 with little assistance from Iran.
During the first phase, Russia reported that around 25% of drones shipped from Iran were damaged or inoperable.
Iranian Shahed-136
Leaked data provided by Iran to Russia indicated that 90% of an Iranian
Shahed-136
The HESA Shahed 136 ( fa, شاهد ۱۳۶, literally " Witness-136"), or Geran-2 in Russian service, is an Iranian loitering munition in the form of an autonomous pusher-prop drone. It is designed and manufactured by Shahed Aviation Industr ...
's computer chips and electrical components are manufactured in the West, primarily in the United States.
The components are sold as civilian products. The American companies that produce these components include
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...
,
Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing and power management technology, headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
The c ...
, and
Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. ( ) was an American technology and semiconductor company that primarily supplied programmable logic devices. The company was known for inventing the first commercially viable field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and creating the fi ...
, a company acquired in 2022 by
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...
.
Without further elaboration, a leaked document listed supplies available in Russia and indicated that
Mouser
Mouser may refer to:
* A domestic cat used for hunting rodents, e.g. a farm cat or ship's cat
* Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, the official resident cat of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* Mouser Electronics, an online distributor ...
and
DigiKey could be potential suppliers for components.
The Shahed-136 is powered by a
Mado MD550 engine made by
Mado, based on a German
Limbach Flugmotoren L550E engine illicitly obtained by Iran.
An investigation submitted by Ukraine to the
G7 in September 2023 revealed Shahed drones are built with commercially available parts sold by companies headquartered in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
,
Switzerland, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
,
Japan, and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
.
The document suggested there is no deliberate wrongdoing on the part of the companies, and that, due to the commercial availability of the parts, the parts are simply poorly regulated or are uncontrolled. The document also reported the components are imported to Iran from
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
,
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...
,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
and
Costa Rica.
Russian Geran-2
In July 2023, Albatross's co-founder, Ilya Voronkov, said in interviews that 70% of its drones' components are made in Russia, while other parts such as the engine are from
China. Albatross's website advertises cameras, electronics, and other equipment from European, US, and Asian companies.
US officials later reported China had supplied Russia with military hardware in addition to optics, microelectronics and other dual-use materials that could be used in drones. Ukraine reported that Russia sourced engines for their attack drones from the Chinese company called
Beijing MicroPilot UAV Flight Control Systems.
Other supplies are provided by Iranian front companies often based in places like
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
or
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
.
The airframe is constructed from materials provided by Russian and Belarusian companies. A sample of a material used to make the wings was provided by the Chinese company
Metastar to the drone manufactory.
Since production has commenced at the drone factory in Yelabuga, Russian engineers have replaced both glue and Chinese electronics deemed inadequate, and have waterproofed and redesigned the airframe.
Russia has also begun producing its own
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
*Explos ...
s.
Further improvements underway include an effort to make the Geran-2s capable of swarm strikes, in which the drones autonomously coordinate an attack on a target.
History
Shahed drones were previously built by
Shahed Aviation Industries
Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center (مرکز تحقیقات صنایع هوایی شاهد) is an Iranian aerospace company known for designing military helicopters and UAVs. They are associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ...
in Iran, where, allegedly, every drone manufactory has two backup sites in the event of an aerial attack at one site.
In December 2022, the
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from Delaw ...
publicly accused Iran and Russia of moving to cooperate in the construction of a drone manufacturing plant in Russia. In June 2023, the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
released a
U.S. intelligence
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
report revealing Iran was supplying Russia with materials to construct the drone manufactory, predicting it would be fully operational by early 2024. Photo and video evidence from Russian social media indicated Albatross commenced some reconnaissance drone production in January 2023.
In September 2023, during the
seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly
The Seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly is the ongoing session of the United Nations General Assembly which opened on 5 September 2023. The President of the General Assembly is from Latin American and Caribbean Group.
Or ...
, the United States directly accused Iran of both supplying Russia with drones during the invasion of Ukraine, and of assisting Russia with the development of a drone manufacturing plant. Despite mounting evidence, president of Iran
Ebrahim Raisi
Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati ( fa, سید ابراهیم رئیسالساداتی; born 14 December 1960), commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi ( fa, ابراهیم رئیسی ), is an Iranian principlist politician, Muslim jurist, and the eighth ...
denied sending drones for use in the invasion, responding, "We are against the war in Ukraine." Iran had also said it provided drones to Russia only before the start of the war.
Russia has also dismissed reports of it working with Iran, saying Russia relies on its own research and development. The Ukrainian report to G7, submitted in August 2023, further detailed the Iranian government was trying to "disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons" and that "
ran
Ran, RaN and ran may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa
* "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea
* ''Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game)
*' ...
cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine."
US officials determined that Iran continues to supply the Russian military with suicide drones, having shipped hundreds by May 2023, shipping them from the
Amirabad Special Economic Zone and Port, Iran to
Makhachkala
Makhachkala ( rus, Махачкала, , məxətɕkɐˈla, links=yes),; av, Махӏачхъала, Maħaçqala; ce, ХӀинжа-ГӀала, Hinƶa-Ġala; az, Маһачгала, Mahaçqala; nog, Махачкала; lbe, Махачкъала; ...
, Russia.
On 2 April 2024, the drone factory was struck by an improvised drone apparently adapted from a civilian light aircraft, likely an
Aeroprakt A-22
The Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat is a Ukrainian two-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear ultralight aircraft that was designed by Yuri Yakovlev and is manufactured by Aeroprakt. In the United States the A-22 is referred to as the ''Valor'', while ...
. Ukraine's military intelligence said the strike "caused significant destruction of production facilities."
Local governor
Rustam Minnikhanov
Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov (russian: Руста́м Нургали́евич Минниха́нов, tt-Cyrl, Рөстәм Нургали улы Миңнеханов; born 1 March 1957) is a Russian politician who has served as ...
said the attack brought no serious damage or disruption to production.
Russian media reported a nearby workers' dormitory was damaged, with 12 injured.
See also
*
Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Iran has supported Russia both diplomatically and militarily since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has voted against United Nations resolutions condemning Russia and has regularly delivered loitering munit ...
Notes
References
{{reflist
Aircraft manufacturers of Russia
Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers
Russo-Ukrainian War
Iran–Russia military relations