Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 missile launchers used in Ukraine war - FT
Russia agreed to produce 90 helicopter-mounted launchers for precision-guided missiles for Iran, according to Russian defense industry documents reviewed by the Financial Times.
The production schedule for 2024–2025 lists an export order for 90 APU-L launchers from a customer identified as "K-10," a designation used by Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport for Iran.
The documents were provided to the newspaper by Dallas Analytics, a Ukrainian private intelligence organization.
What the documents reveal
A May 2024 letter from Russian defense manufacturer Vympel urged the Engineering Design Bureau (KBM) to accelerate the supply of components for two launcher types, APU-L and APU-305.
The letter warned that delays could jeopardize nine contracts. Seven customers were Russian, while the two foreign orders involved 192 APU-305 launchers for China and 90 APU-L launchers for the customer identified as K-10.
The documents do not establish whether the launchers ordered for Iran were ultimately delivered.
Weapons already used against Ukraine
Both launcher types are designed for Russia's LMUR precision-guided missile, also known as Izdeliye 305, which entered Russian military service in 2022 and has been widely used in Ukraine.
The missile can strike moving targets, with an operator able to adjust its flight path after launch.
According to the US Army's Worldwide Equipment Guide, APU-L launchers are designed for Russian Mi-28 attack helicopters and can carry two missiles each.
Iran announced in November 2023 that arrangements to acquire Russian Mi-28 helicopters had been finalized. Images that emerged in January 2026 appeared to show one of the helicopters at an aviation facility in Tehran, the FT reported.
Growing military cooperation
The reported launcher deal adds to evidence of expanding military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.
In September, the Financial Times reported that Russia had secretly assisted Iran in developing supersonic cruise missile technology, potentially giving Tehran weapons capable of threatening US naval vessels in the Persian Gulf.
The newspaper has also reported a Russian agreement to supply Iran with Verba shoulder-fired air defense systems.
Iran, meanwhile, previously supplied Russia with Shahed attack drones used against Ukraine and helped Moscow establish domestic production.
Nicole Grajewski, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the FT that the latest findings indicated Russia's willingness to continue supplying Iran despite its own wartime needs and with less concern about Western objections.
However, analysts cautioned that Russia's military assistance to Iran, while operationally useful, has not fundamentally changed the course of the conflict in the Middle East.