Joe Biden has established a task team to investigate how U.S. and western components are making their way into drones manufactured by Iran and deployed to cause havoc in Ukraine.
Despite rigorous export rules designed to prevent Iran from acquiring these components, evidence has emerged that Tehran is acquiring more than enough commercially available technology, including microelectronics developed in the United States, to make the drones.
The United Kingdom-based research organization Conflict Armament Research discovered last month that 82 percent of the components of drones shot down in Ukraine were manufactured in the United States.
According to sources quoted by CNN, the White House has now formed a task force comprised of agencies from across Washington, including the departments of Defense, State, Justice, Commerce, and Treasury.
Joe Biden has established a task team to investigate how U.S. and western components are making their way into Iranian-made drones (seen in Ukraine) that are causing havoc in Ukraine.
According to sources quoted by CNN, the White House has now established a task group comprised of agencies from across Washington, including the departments of Defense, State, Justice, Commerce, and Treasury.
As the battle in the east has reached a stalemate, Moscow has launched hundreds of drones against Ukraine’s power infrastructure in an attempt to deprive the population of electricity as winter weather approaches. The attacks have resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians.
Despite convincing evidence to the contrary, Tehran has denied supplying Russia with Iranian-made Shahed-136 “suicide drones.”
The drones loaded with explosives are launched in clusters, making them difficult to defend against, and then crash into their targets. However, they are vulnerable to small guns fire. Ukraine has successfully destroyed multiple drones.
Conflict Armament Research and the Ukrainian Armed Forces studied the devices that were brought down.
Investigations revealed that processors manufactured by the Dallas-based technology business Texas Instruments and an engine manufactured by an Austrian corporation owned by Canada’s Bombardier Recreational Products were among the components identified in the drones.
Both businesses have condemned the usage of their components in the drones. Texas Instruments told CNN that it “does not sell any products into Russia, Belarus, or Iran” and that it “complies with current laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and interacts with law enforcement authorities as required.”
Additionally, we do not endorse or encourage the use of our products in applications for which they were not intended.
In a statement on its website, Bombardier Recreational Products stated that it had initiated an investigation into how its engines got up in the drones.
BRP has neither allowed nor permitted its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia, according to the statement.
The discovery of western components in the drones highlights how relatively inexpensive consumer goods may be adapted for military use. Frequently, such commodities are exempt from export penalties and controls.
The United Kingdom-based research organization Conflict Armament Research discovered last month that 82 percent of the components of drones shot down in Ukraine were manufactured in the United States. Pictured: The tail of a drone that was lost in Ukraine
Ukraine has been the target of regular, lethal aerial assaults. After suffering a series of setbacks on the battlefield, Moscow intensified its aerial campaign against the country’s electricity grid in an attempt to demoralize the enemy. Firefighters in Ukraine at work following a drone strike
The officials told CNN that investigations into the drones have increased in recent weeks as a result of evidence indicating that Russia intended to establish its own drone factory as part of an agreement with Tehran.
Iran has begun transferring drone plans and components to Russia in order to launch production there, CNN said, marking a dramatic escalation in the military alliance between the two sanctioned states.
As part of a broader ‘holistic strategy’ to dealing with Iran, the White House National Security Council is overseeing the new endeavor to explore how US components are being used in the drones, a senior source told the news network.
This will also include Tehran’s repression of protestors, its nuclear program, and its participation in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
However, the Iranian drones are perhaps the most serious concern due to their use of American weaponry.
Many of the drones’ components were manufactured within the last few years.
Conflict Armament Research stated in its research that the November drones it analyzed possessed “advanced technological capabilities.” These included sources outside of Iran for tactical-grade sensors and chips.
This, according to the assessment, reveals that Tehran “has been able to dodge current sanction regimes and has increased its weapons’ capabilities and resilience.”
Kyiv, Ukraine police fire against a drone during a Russian drone strike, which local authorities believe to be Iranian-made Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), during Russia’s invasion on Ukraine. 17 October 2022
The announcement of the taskforce precedes Ukraine’s president Zelensky’s visit to the United States, where he will meet Joe Biden and address Congress on Wednesday, a trip that the White House says would send a strong message of Western unity to Russia.
The visit would “underscore the United States’ unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes,” according to a statement from White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
The covertly scheduled trip occurs on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with his senior military leaders to assess the crisis in Ukraine and set goals for next year in what the Kremlin referred to as a “important, lengthy address.”
It will be Zelensky’s first travel outside of Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February and planned a swift takeover of Kyiv and the majority of the country.
Instead, the visit occurs on the 300th day of a war in which Russian forces have been halted by a determined Ukrainian army supported by Western armaments, forced to retire from gained territory, and striving to avoid more reverses.
“On my way to the United States to boost (Ukraine’s) resilience and defense capabilities,” Zelensky tweeted, indicating that he will address Congress.
Monday drone assaults near Kiev injured three persons. Russia said it shot down several missiles built in the United States over its airspace near Ukraine.
“The first time I heard the air raid siren… I believed there would be a drone assault. It worried me for the first time,’ said Natalia Dobrovolska, a 68-year-old Kyiv resident.
She claimed hearing multiple blasts before her building in western Kyiv lost power. According to officials, Russia deployed 35 attack drones across the country, including 23 over Kyiv.
Pictured are debris bits retrieved as evidence by a U.S. Navy explosive ordnance disposal team aboard the M/T Pacific Zircon from an Iranian-made Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicle on November 16, 2022, and released by U.S.Navy on November 22, 2022.
Ukraine reportedly shot down 30 of the airborne weapons, including ‘Shaheds’ manufactured by Iran, which had bombarded the capital in recent weeks.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that important infrastructure facilities were harmed, while regional officials reported that nine dwellings were damaged.
Ukraine has been the target of regular, lethal aerial assaults. After suffering a series of setbacks on the battlefield, Moscow intensified its aerial campaign against the country’s electricity grid in an attempt to demoralize the enemy.
With the onset of winter, missile and drone attacks have deprived millions of Ukrainians of water and heat and plunged cities across the country into darkness.
Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky requested Ukraine’s allies to provide the Ukrainian military with more weaponry via video hookup to the leaders of numerous NATO countries. The expectation is that Biden will comply by supplying Patriot missile defense systems.
“Aggression from Russia can and must fail.” Our mission today is to expedite it,’ Zelensky told the assembled officials in Riga.
In a late-night address on Sunday, he stated that nine million of Ukraine’s estimated 40 million residents had their energy restored following the previous week’s Russian missile onslaught.
In a press conference at the close of the year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern that he believed the war would continue. Guterres stated, “I am not optimistic about the likelihood of productive peace discussions in the near future.”
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