A German newspaper said that China intends to produce attack drones and deliver them to the Russian army by April, for use in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
China intends to start producing attack drones for the Russian army, in preparation for their possible use in Ukraine, according to what was announced by the German weekly Der Spiegel in its Friday issue.
The newspaper said, without mentioning a source, that negotiations in this regard began between Russian military officials and the Chinese drone manufacturer, Xi'an Penghu Intelligent Aviation Technology.
The newspaper quoted "Bingo" as saying that it is ready to produce 100 ZT-180 drones, test them, and deliver them by next April to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
These drones are similar to Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones, according to military experts interviewed by the newspaper, and are capable of carrying explosive charges weighing between 35 and 50 kilograms.
In a second step, the Chinese manufacturer plans to transfer components and know-how to Russia to start producing these routers locally, according to Der Spiegel.
The newspaper added that this could allow Moscow itself to produce 100 drones per month.
And last year, according to the German newspaper, another Chinese company, controlled by the army, planned to supply Russia with spare parts for its combat aircraft, especially the Su-27, under the cover of exporting equipment for civilian use.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not directly respond to Der Spiegel's question about the information provided by the newspaper, but considered that "the United States is the main source of armaments on the battlefield in Ukraine."
The United States accused China this week of planning to supply weapons to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine, which Beijing denied.
German Chancellor Olaf Schultz called on Thursday evening not to be "illusioned" about China in the Ukrainian conflict, noting that it has not criticized the Russian military attack on Ukraine at all until now.
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