Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles, London-based outlet The Financial Times reported on Wednesday morning, which experts say would likely have been intended for anti-ship and land attacks.
According to FT, Russian arms export officials and senior NPO Mashinostroyenia engineers traveled to Iran repeatedly in 2023.
Among the engineers who conducted these trips were Alexander Dergachev, chief designer for sea-launched missiles and cruise missile complexes; Alexander Chebakov, head of NPO Mashinostroyenia’s design department for air-breathing propulsion units and a specialist in supersonic ramjet propulsion for cruise missiles; and Yuri Prokhorchuk, head of the aerodynamics and ballistics department.
FT also learned that Vladislav Kuzmichev, head of Rosoboronexport’s department of defense technologies and space, accompanied the delegation on its third trip to Iran, and later negotiated the C430L contract with Iran.
By 2025, NPO Mashinostroyenia had received various Iranian technical materials, which Russian engineers analyzed and responded to with various questions.
“People often think about technology transfers as being solely about sending blueprints, parts, or entire missiles,” Fabian Hinz, an Iranian missiles expert and senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, a UK-based weapons-tracing organization, told FT, “but getting a 60-year-old engineer to fly over and problem-solve, using their experience, is hugely valuable.”
Putin also said that Russia and Iran will maintain their economic and trade relationship despite the current military and political environment.
Reuters contributed to this report.