Russia built a massive drone factory to pump out Iranian-designed drones. Now it's leaving Tehran out in the cold

Egypt Independent

a day ago

'Finally, something no one else has,' a Russian journalist says during a TV documentary on the country's largest drone factory. 'Such mass production of two-stroke engines doesn't exist anywhere else in Russia.'
The factory in question, Alabuga, 600 miles east of Moscow in Russia's Tatarstan region, has been pumping out increasing numbers of the Iranian-designed Shahed-136 attack drone (known in Russia as Geran), but the man behind the site believes this may be one of its greatest achievements.
'This is a complete facility,' CEO Timur Shagivaleev adds in the documentary, explaining most of the components for the drone are now produced locally. 'Aluminium bars come in, engines are made from them; microelectronics are made from electric chips; fuselages are made from carbon fiber and fiberglass – this is a complete location.'
The claim signals that production of the Iranian-designed Shahed, which has been the backbone of Moscow's drone war on Ukraine, has now been mostly absorbed into Russia's military industrial machine. Analysts and intelligence officials believe 90% of production stages now happen at Alabuga or other Russian facilities.
To that end, recent satellite imagery shows the site is continuing to expand, with new production facilities and dorms that would allow it to scale up production exponentially. Analysts CNN spoke with believe this growth would allow Russia to potentially export an updated and battle-tested version of the drone it originally imported from Iran – maybe even to Tehran itself.
But a Western intelligence source says the expansion and the complete Russian integration of the Shahed-136, have effectively marginalized Iran, revealing a rift between Moscow and Tehran. They say Tehran has been growing increasingly impatient with the little return it's received from Russia, despite having supported Moscow's war effort with not just drones, but missiles and other assets.
That discontent effectively boiled over throughout Israel's 12-day bombing campaign of targeting Iran's nuclear weapons program in June, during which Russia's statements of condemnation were seen as paltry support for a country that has been helping Moscow since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
'Iran may have expected Russia to do more or take more steps without being required to do so,' Ali Akbar Dareini, an analyst for the Tehran-based Center for Strategic Studies, the research arm of the Iranian President's office, told CNN. They may not intervene militarily, but they may beef operative support, in terms of weapons shipments, technological support, intelligence sharing, or things like that.'
But Russia's distant approach was not surprising for the Western intelligence official CNN spoke with, who argued it showed the 'purely transactional and utilitarian nature' of Russian cooperation with Iran.
'This explicit disengagement demonstrates that Russia never intervenes beyond its immediate interests, even when a partner – here an essential supplier of drones – is attacked,' they said.
Strategic partnership
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it began importing Iranian Shahed drones. By early 2023, Moscow and Tehran had inked a $1.75 billion deal for Russia to make the drones domestically.
The 6,000 drones by September 2025 stipulated in the initial contract were manufactured about a year ahead of schedule and, according to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, Alabuga is now pumping out more than 5,500 units per month. It's also doing so in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
'In 2022, Russia paid an average of 200,000 US dollars for one such drone,' a Ukrainian Defense Intelligence source said. 'In 2025, that number came down to approximately 70,000 US dollars.'
Ukraine also said Russia has also modernized the drone, with improved communications, longer-lasting batteries and much larger warheads, making them deadlier and harder to bring down.
The Western intelligence official said Iran initially seemed to embrace Russia's efforts to localize roughly 90% of production of the Shahed 136 at Alabuga but Moscow's upgrades seem to have caught it off guard.
'This evolution marks a gradual loss of control for Iran over the final product, which is now largely manufactured locally and independently,' the source explained. They added Moscow's end goal is 'to fully master the production cycle and free itself from future negotiations with Tehran.'
Dareini says Russia's predatory behavior is not surprising and describes the relationship between the two countries as 'both cooperation and competition.'
'It's obvious that Russians want more, to get more and give less, and this is this applies to Iran as well,' he explained. 'Iran has provided Russia with drones and technology and the factory, and it has not been for free.'
But in the process of expanding, the official says, Alabuga has been unable to meet obligations to its Iranian partners. According to them, in addition to the loss of control over the final product, Iranian authorities and companies, namely Sahara Thunder, have complained that some payments have not been made, in part because of the suffocating international sanctions the Russian economy has been under for more than three years.
CNN has been unable to independently verify this. CNN has reached out to the Alabuga administration for comment but has yet to hear back.
'These obstacles add to Tehran's frustration with the blockages hindering the transfer of Russian aeronautical technologies to Iran, which were promised by Moscow in exchange for its support,' the official added.
Salvaging the relationship?
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran has seen Tehran mostly withdraw from the international sphere to regroup, reorganize and rebuild what was destroyed during the conflict. And in addition to the well-publicized damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, Israel targeted several other Iranian facilities.
David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector and head of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) think tank, believes Alabuga's expansion may allow Moscow to provide some meaningful support and send some of the updated versions of the Shahed back to Iran.
'Some of [Iran's] drone production facilities were bombed and they fired a lot of [drones], so as a way to build back stock, they may do that,' Albright said. 'And then then Iran could reverse engineer or receive the technology to make the better quality Shahed.'
'I think it's very dangerous,' he added.
Other military equipment may be making its way to Tehran as well. Open-source flight tracking data shows a Gelix Airlines Ilyushin–76 military cargo plane flew from Moscow to Tehran on July 11.
The IL-76 is a heavy transport plane frequently used by the Russian military to ferry troops and military equipment, and Gelix Airlines has been associated with the transport of military equipment in the past.
The aircraft spent around three hours on the ground and then flew back to Moscow.
CNN was unable to confirm what was on board but Iranian media reported it was the final components of a Russian S-400 air defense system.
CNN asked the Russia Ministry of Defense for comment on the tension between the two countries but has not received a response. Similarly, CNN also reached out to the Iranian government, both in Tehran and via its embassy in the UK, but has yet to hear back.
These latest developments highlight Dareini's core belief about relations between the two countries: while there may be tension, ultimately Iran will also reap the benefits of the partnership.
'Iran has got, and very likely will get the things it needs for its own security,' he explained. 'Whether it's military hardware, whether it's in terms of economic cooperation, technology and whatever it needs.'