The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War noted that cooperation with China has allowed Russia to bypass Western sanctions on imports of electronics for drone production. Ukraine’s military intelligence estimates that Russia receives up to 65% of components for its Geran drones from China. Beijing rejects the claims.

The relentless strikes rely on a drone that costs as little as $50,000 to make—about as a BMW M Sport costs in India. The cost to shoot one down? Often more than a million dollars. As James Black of the RAND Corporation put it,

Russia has tried to show that its drone manufacturing capability is unmatched and cannot be matched. The Yelabuga drone factory located in Tatarstan, Russia is 1100 km from the Ukrainian border. However, this factory shows why the combined power of NATO is not enough to defeat Russia. Russia claims that this is the world’s largest drone factory.

Iran's military development is a singular story.  Few nations can claim to have independently transformed their military capabilities as dramatically as Iran has in just four and a half decades.

Shahed-style drones are deadly systems that Russia has been using to strike Ukrainian cities for nearly three years.

Ukraine is frantically working to cope with increasing Russian Shahed-136 drone attacks that feature evolved tactics and capabilities.

A drone, which appears to resemble the triangle-shaped Iranian Shahed-136 drones Russia has been using, approaches for an attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 17, 2022.

The United States has copied and unveiled its own version of Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munition, in a push to expand affordable airpower options for modern battlefields.