Top Secret Revealed: New Attack is Being Prepared

Top Secret Revealed: New Attack is Being Prepared

Engineers at the Alabuga factory in Tatarstan, around 800 kilometers east of Moscow, are attempting to produce about 6,000 upgraded drones by 2025, as reported by The Washington Post.

Despite production delays, experts believe this could mean that hundreds of "Shahed" drones could be directed at Ukrainian targets simultaneously, instead of the dozens currently used in attacks.

Documents reveal that employees, some of whom have had their passports confiscated to prevent them from leaving the country, use code names for the project. The drones are referred to as "boats," explosives are termed "bumpers," and Iran is alternately referred to as "Ireland" or "Belarus." This program was a closely guarded state secret, even though it operated on a vast area the size of 14 football fields, with plans for further expansion.

It all began this year with a team that restored dismantled drones from Iran. They are currently in the second phase: producing the vehicle bodies themselves but equipping them with Iranian electronics. Early next year, the facility will start building unmanned aircraft using Russian materials and components.

Engineers have evidently upgraded imported drones, making them waterproof and replacing unreliable Chinese components. They intend to produce these models to higher standards than the original Shahed.

However, the codenamed "Project Ship" program has been delayed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, being more than five weeks behind schedule by February. There are also logistical issues. When the team organized trucks to transport the first drone delivery from the airport, they found they lacked a forklift to load the heavy crates.

They then hired one from a local company, but no one was qualified to operate it. Nevertheless, David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector, believes that by next year, Russia could transition from sporadic launches of imported Shahed drones to more regular attacks using hundreds of them, as reported by the Telegraph.