Assembly of Iranian Shahed drones has started in the “Alabuga” free economic zone in the Tatarstan region. Production would have started on the basis of the franchise agreement signed with Iran. Currently all components are delivered from Iran. To cover up the operation, internal company correspondence, obtained by a group of investigative journalists, refers to the Shahed drones as “boats” and Iran-Belarus.

The plan is to stop importing the drone bodies from Iran first, and later electronic components as well, since the GPS modules and processors can be purchased on the Chinese Aliexpress platform. For now, Iran will continue to supply the drone’s warhead, which is the most difficult to manufacture. In two to three years, “Alabuga” plans to completely stop deliveries of components from Iran.

In the first phase of the cooperation, the Iranian drone production hangar now covers an area of ​​40,000 square meters, which is about six soccer fields. Investigative journalists are aware of the involvement of students, including foreign students, in the creation of Shahed.

In addition, according to the agreement between the parties, the specialists from “Alabuga” have been attending training courses at Iranian companies since March. In total, more than 200 people are being trained in Iran.