It is rumored that Russia and Iran have exchanged military cooperation, and Russia has exchanged Su-35 fighter jets for Iranian drones, each taking what it needs.
Russia is now in urgent need of thousands of drones on the battlefield, and Iran happens to be a drone power. But iran's air force is in a desperate shortage of advanced fighter jets, and only Russia dares to export to them.
U.S. satellites found that more than 20 Su-35 fighter jets were waiting to be transferred to Iran.
According to the images that appear on the network satellite, 21 aircraft of this model are shown.
It should be noted that all these Su-35s were originally produced under contracts from the Egyptian Air Force, but Cairo was forced to abandon them under pressure from the West. After Egypt gave up, Iranians showed interest in buying Su-35s. Iran is afraid that the United States and Israel will send F-35s to strike nuclear facilities and need advanced fighters.
According to U.S., Arab, British, and Israeli intelligence, Iranian pilots and technicians are already in Russia, and they are being trained in the operation of the Su-35. Moscow is reported to have reportedly transferred the aforementioned aircraft to Tehran in 2022, but earlier it was identified as 18. As a result, the number of fighter jets eventually sold is still likely to grow.
It is time for Iran to renew its air force, the main thing is not to let Israel destroy the old fighter jets, so at least a hundred Su-35s are needed. Of course, Israel will do everything it can to prevent Iran from acquiring these Su-35s.
Another piece of news is that Russian experts are already being trained to operate Iranian drones. U.S., European, Arab and Israeli media began talking in July about the fact that Iranian-made drones could be in service with the Russian military. Now, citing sources in the U.S. intelligence community, report that experts from Russia have been trained in Iran for some drone operations.
A group of Russian servicemen has been training in Iran over the past few weeks as part of a military aid deal to supply drones to Russia from Iran, according to sources. In particular, they studied the operation of Shahad-191 and Shahad-129 drones. Tehran, in turn, denies that it will supply Moscow with scarce drones.
The Shahed-129 is an Iranian single-engine hollow reconnaissance and strike drone with a long flight duration, developed in 2012 for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian Armed Forces. It has a 24-hour autonomous cruise capability, similar to the American MQ-1 Predator and the Israeli Hermes 450. Payload 400 kg, cruising speed 150 km / h, combat range 1700 km, full range 3400 km, maximum lift limit 7.3 km, equipped with 4 Sadid-345 PGM bombs. By 2021, 30 are manufactured. It is planned to receive 40 such drones by 2024. Deliveries of the Navy version of the drone have also begun.
As for the Shahed-191, it was one of two Iranian drones built according to the "flying wing" aerodynamic scheme based on the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel drone, but in smaller size. The full size is Shahed 171. By 2025, Tehran plans to have at least 50 Shahed-191 drones in service. In its internal magazine, it carries 2 Sadid-1 missiles with a cruising speed of 300 km / h, a flight time of 4.5 hours, a flight range of 450 km, a payload of 50 kg and a maximum ceiling of 7.6 km.
In addition to military cooperation, Putin will also visit Iran to sign a strategic cooperation agreement. Ruble settlement, learn from Iran's experience in counter-sanctions, especially domestic substitution.