Moscow planned to provide Iran with 90 helicopter-based missile launch systems
Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter-mounted launchers for a precision-guided missile used extensively by Russian forces in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported. The report cited a 2024–2025 Vympel Design Bureau production schedule provided by Ukrainian intelligence and research group Dallas Analytics. It remains unclear whether the launchers were delivered.
More context
The Financial Times reported on Nov. 5 that Moscow planned to provide Tehran with 90 helicopter-based launch systems for a missile deployed extensively in its war against Ukraine. The report was based on a 2024–2025 production schedule from Vympel Design Bureau, supplied to the newspaper by Dallas Analytics, a Ukrainian private intelligence and research organization. The schedule lists Iran, identified by Dallas Analytics as code K-10, for 90 APU-L launchers for the Product 305 missile, designed for helicopter use. The records scheduled export batches from late 2024 through December 2025, but do not establish that the launchers were delivered. Nicole Grajewski, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the order indicated Russia’s willingness to continue supplying Iran despite its own wartime demands.
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Reporting
- The Times of India — Russia's hidden arms deal with Iran: 90 launchers for precision-guided missiles - The Times of India
- Demokratis — Russia Agrees to Supply Iran 90 Missile Launchers
- Suara Garut — Russia Agrees to Supply Iran With 90 Helicopter Missile Launchers
- Iran International — Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 advanced missile launchers - FT | Iran International
- The Jerusalem Post — Russia signed defense deal to deliver 90 missile launchers to Iran: FT report | The Jerusalem Post
- Ukrainian National News — Russia has agreed to supply Iran with 90 missile launchers — FT | УНН
- theins.press — Russia agreed to supply Iran with at least 90 missile launchers, Dallas Analytics reports — The Insider
Verifier’s note
The Times of India, Demokratis, Suara Garut, The Insider, Iran International, The Jerusalem Post, and UNN all report the same-day claim that Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 missile launchers for missiles used in Ukraine. The Insider reports from Dallas Analytics’ production-plan analysis, while the others attribute their accounts to the Financial Times.