Lightning and Phoenix: Intelligence named the countries whose components are in the new drones of the Russian Federation.

In the production of the strike drones 'Lightning' and 'Phoenix', Russia uses components made in the People's Republic of China and some Western countries such as Switzerland, the USA, and the Netherlands. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Strike drone 'Lightning'

'Lightning' is a strike unmanned aerial vehicle that launches from a special catapult and is controlled by an operator like an FPV drone. Its flight range is up to 40 km, and the weight of the warhead is up to 5 kg, which is 10 times less than that of 'Shahid'. - noted in the GUR.

In addition, Russia uses 'Lightning' to terrorize the civilian population in cities and areas adjacent to the front line.

In November of this year, such a device was used to attack a multi-story building and a shopping center in the Saltivskyi district of Kharkiv, resulting in several people being injured. Given that the drone is controlled by an operator, civilian objects became intentional targets.

Earlier, Russia also used similar drones without warheads to overload Ukrainian air defense.

'Lightning' has a simple design and consists mainly of components made in China. The electric motor, flight controller, camera, and most electronic components are from Chinese manufacturers such as FATJAY, SpeedyBee, Caddx, Huayi Microelectronics, Trex Technologies, and others.

Strike drone 'Phoenix'

'Phoenix' is a reconnaissance drone developed by the Russian company 'TAIP' and is referred to as an evolution of the Orion-10. Its 'stuffing' uses components labeled by manufacturers from five countries: the USA, Switzerland, China, the Netherlands, and Taiwan.

The longest labeling comes from components from STMicroelectronics, headquartered in Switzerland, with production in nine countries on three continents around the world.

It is known that during the autumn of 2024, Russia released four times more air vehicles over Ukraine than in 2023. This increase was due to the launch of a drone manufacturing plant and the acquisition of munitions from North Korea.

It was also previously reported that China restricted the supply of components for drones and drones themselves to the USA. This restriction poses significant risks, said the commander for unmanned aviation 'Birds of Madjar' Robert Brody (Madjar) during the international conference YES.

In addition, Chinese manufacturers are limiting the supply of essential parts for drone production to the USA and Europe. This was reported by Bloomberg agency, citing sources from manufacturers. They note that Chinese manufacturers of motors, batteries, and flight control systems for drones have reduced supply quantities or completely ceased them.