‘Dual-use’ case: Russian attack drone maker evades Western scrutiny

BERLIN — A Russian startup drone manufacturer has cashed in on the exploding demand for unmanned aerial vehicles spurred by the war in Ukraine, selling over 1,000 drones while working to avoid Western sanctions, according to documents reviewed by Defense News.

Integrated Robotics Technologies, located in southeastern Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic, is an example of how Russian companies have switched to a wartime economy orchestrated by Moscow to prosecute the invasion of Ukraine.

IRT is not named in sanctions by Western governments despite touting its lineup of surveillance and attack drones in its advertising materials, a marked switch from a marketing strategy previously aimed at the agricultural and energy markets. A presentation by the Bashkirian government, seen by Defense News, shows that in 2023 alone, IRT produced more than 1,000 UAVs.

The company’s portfolio includes several types of so-called kamikaze drones, cheap and disposable aircraft fitted with an explosive warhead that have become the hallmark of Ukraine war tactics. An operator can plunge them into vulnerable targets from afar with deadly precision. The vendor also markets a set of larger, more complex drones that it claims can stay in the air for 20 hours and cover up to 1,600 kilometers while producing high-quality aerial imagery – useful for energy pipeline inspections but also for surveilling the battlefield from afar.

It is likely that countless companies like IRT exist scattered across Russia. The case underscores the government’s concerted efforts to mitigate the effectiveness of Western sanctions imposed after attacking Ukraine. The campaign, still labeled a “special military operation” in Kremlin verbiage, has been burning through weapon stocks new and old at an unprecedented pace.

With the war in Ukraine in its third year, Russian businesses like IRT have come into the spotlight of Western authorities as they try to restrict the flow of components that could aid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts. In turn, Russia has been finding new ways to sustain its access to vital products, turning to China and setting up front companies in third countries like the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and in Central Asia, UN trade records and government information show.

IRT’s website does not explicitly mention a military dimension to its business, billing its drones instead as civilian tools. However, the company has participated in defense-oriented trade fairs since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.

“As they like to say now, it is dual-use,” quipped a press release by a regional trade show (archived here ) covering IRT’s appearance at the event, referring to the company’s ostensibly agricultural tack.

The company did not return an email seeking comment on its defense-related activities.

A technology is dual-use when it was originally developed for civilian purposes but has significant warfare-related applications, says Robert Shaw, the program director for export control and nonproliferation at the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, a think tank that studies arms control and sanctions.

“IRT’s UAVs seem to fit this definition very well,” he said, “and especially kamikaze drones very clearly have military applications.”

Founded in September 2021, IRT describes itself in public appearances as an innovative company that hopes to advance Russian domestic drone-making abilities. It has hosted aerospace engineering events for local youth and counts around 20 employees, according to public records.

While a private company, Integrated Robotics Technologies has received money and contracts from Russian government entities. Public records show that the regional government of the Republic of Bashkortostan paid IRT eight times for consulting services in early 2022. Governmental support has since expanded through programs to boost domestic UAV production, including plans to build drone-related research centers, launch platforms and factories, all outlined in regional government meetings in 2023 and 2024

The plans are worth tens of billions of rubles (hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars), according to Republic of Bashkortostan government documents.

Eager to tout a local drone champion, officials have kept tabs on the company’s fortunes: IRT had produced 1,049 drones of six different types in 2023 alone, according to a presentation from Jan. 15 of this year. Of these, 332 were of the Scout or Dark Wing varieties, marketed as suicide drones in the company’s product catalog. The company also built 14 long-range surveillance drones of the IRT-5 variety and hundreds of quad- and hexacopters.

It’s unclear to what extent an individual company like IRT would be affected by Western sanctions. On a national scale, though, there are indications that Moscow has struggled with supplanting some parts of its supply chains with local vendors, most notably in advanced semiconductors and similarly specialized components and tools.

Russian customs data seen by Defense News shows a handful of occasions in which Integrated Robotics Technologies has imported drone components and parts for a 3D printer from China.

Companies linked to IRT may also be involved in procuring components on its behalf, making it difficult to gauge the extent to which the company relies on foreign components. For example, the company appears to have close ties to a medium-sized chemical- and laboratory-equipment manufacturer.

“Russian defense-related procurement efforts are using a wide range of third countries to circumvent sanctions,” Shaw told Defense News. He said the procurement of 3D printing components is a notable detail. “Our research suggests that additive manufacturing is a particular area to watch, especially when it comes to UAV and missile production,” he said. Being linked to a chemical company might allow for producing specialized materials for drone-building or polymers for 3D printing, Shaw said.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

柏林——据《防务新闻》查阅的文件显示，一家俄罗斯无人机初创制造商利用乌克兰战争引发的无人机需求激增，售出了 1000 多架无人机，同时努力规避西方制裁。

位于俄罗斯东南部巴什科尔托斯坦共和国的集成机器人技术公司，就是一个例子，说明俄罗斯公司是如何在莫斯科的指挥下转向战时经济，以推进对乌克兰的入侵。

尽管IRT在其广告宣传材料中大力推广其侦察和攻击无人机产品线，但西方政府并未将其列入制裁名单。这与该公司此前面向农业和能源市场的营销策略截然不同。据《防务新闻》报道，巴什基尔政府的一份报告显示，仅在2023年，IRT就生产了超过1000架无人机。

该公司的产品组合包括多种所谓的“神风特攻队”无人机，这些廉价且一次性使用的无人机配备爆炸性弹头，已成为乌克兰战争战术的标志性特征。操作人员可以将其从远处精准地投入战斗，攻击脆弱的目标。该公司还销售一系列更大、更复杂的无人机，据称这些无人机可以持续飞行20小时，飞行距离可达1600公里，并能拍摄高质量的航拍图像——这些图像不仅可用于能源管道巡检，还可用于远程监视战场。

像IRT这样的公司可能在俄罗斯各地数不胜数。此案凸显了俄罗斯政府为削弱西方在袭击乌克兰后实施的制裁效力而采取的种种举措。这场在克里姆林宫口中仍被称为“特殊军事行动”的行动，正以前所未有的速度消耗着新旧武器库存。

乌克兰战争已进入第三年，俄罗斯企业，例如IRT公司，成为西方当局关注的焦点，因为西方当局试图限制可能帮助俄罗斯总统普京的零部件供应。与此同时，联合国贸易记录和政府信息显示，俄罗斯一直在寻找新的途径来维持其关键产品的供应，转向中国，并在阿联酋、土耳其和中亚等第三国设立幌子公司。

IRT的网站并未明确提及该公司业务的军事用途，而是将其无人机定位为民用工具。然而，自2022年乌克兰战争爆发以来，该公司已多次参加与国防相关的贸易展览会。

“正如他们现在喜欢说的那样，它是两用型的，”一家地区性贸易展的新闻稿（存档于此）报道了 IRT 在该展会上的亮相，指的是该公司表面上的农业马具。

该公司没有回复记者就其国防相关活动寻求置评的电子邮件。

加州詹姆斯·马丁防扩散研究中心（一家研究军备控制和制裁的智库）出口管制和防扩散项目主任罗伯特·肖表示，如果一项技术最初是为民用目的而开发的，但具有重要的战争相关应用，那么这项技术就是军民两用技术。

“IRT 的无人机似乎非常符合这个定义，”他说，“尤其是神风特攻队无人机，显然具有军事用途。”

IRT成立于2021年9月，在公开场合自诩为一家创新型公司，致力于提升俄罗斯国产无人机的制造能力。据公开记录显示，该公司曾为当地青年举办航空航天工程活动，目前拥有约20名员工。

尽管是一家私营公司，但集成机器人技术公司（Integrated Robotics Technologies，简称IRT）已从俄罗斯政府机构获得资金和合同。公开记录显示，巴什科尔托斯坦共和国地方政府在2022年初向IRT支付了八笔咨询服务费。此后，政府通过一系列旨在促进国内无人机生产的计划扩大了对IRT的支持，其中包括建设无人机相关研究中心、发射平台和工厂的计划，所有这些计划都在2023年和2024年的地方政府会议上进行了概述。

根据巴什科尔托斯坦共和国政府文件，这些计划价值数百亿卢布（数亿美元）。

为了大力推广本土无人机领军企业，官员们密切关注着这家公司的业绩：根据今年1月15日的一份报告，仅在2023年，IRT就生产了1049架不同类型的无人机，共计六种型号。其中，332架是Scout或Dark Wing系列，在公司的产品目录中被宣传为自杀式无人机。该公司还制造了14架IRT-5型远程侦察无人机以及数百架四旋翼和六旋翼无人机。

目前尚不清楚像IRT这样的单个公司会在多大程度上受到西方制裁的影响。但从国家层面来看，有迹象表明，莫斯科在用本地供应商替代部分供应链方面一直举步维艰，尤其是在先进半导体以及类似的专业零部件和工具领域。

《防务新闻》看到的俄罗斯海关数据显示，Integrated Robotics Technologies 曾多次从中国进口无人机组件和 3D 打印机零件。

与IRT有关联的公司也可能代表其采购零部件，这使得评估该公司对外国零部件的依赖程度变得困难。例如，该公司似乎与一家中型化工和实验室设备制造商关系密切。

肖恩告诉《防务新闻》：“俄罗斯在国防相关采购中广泛利用第三国来规避制裁。” 他指出，采购3D打印组件是一个值得关注的细节。“我们的研究表明，增材制造是一个特别值得关注的领域，尤其是在无人机和导弹生产方面，”他说道。肖恩表示，与化工企业有关联或许能够生产用于无人机制造的专用材料或用于3D打印的聚合物。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。