Russia plans major expansion of drone material production at Alabuga - Politico
Russia is expanding a state-owned factory supplying critical materials for its attack drones, potentially adding enough production capacity for around 28,000 Shahed-type drone airframes a year, according to Russian documents obtained by Politico.
Plans by state nuclear corporation Rosatom call for its Alabuga-Volokno factory in Tatarstan to produce an additional 500 metric tons of military-grade aerospace carbon fiber annually by 2029.
Carbon fiber is a lightweight material used in the airframes of Russia's Geran-2 attack drones, which are based on Iran's Shahed-136 design.
RWeapons expert David Albright, founder of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, estimated that the factory's additional capacity could supply enough carbon fiber for around 28,000 Shahed-136 airframes annually.
That would represent a 78% increase over Russia's estimated current annual production capacity of more than 36,000 Geran attack drones, according to Politico.
The documents detailing the expansion were gathered from Russian sources by the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, a Kyiv-based think tank.
A U.S. government official told Politico that the House Select Committee on China had reviewed the documents and determined that they were authentic. A Ukrainian official said the Ukrainian government had also reviewed and authenticated them.
Rosatom declined to comment on the documents.
Russia approved construction of a new production line at Alabuga-Volokno in May. Satellite images taken between May and July show land next to the existing factory being cleared for construction.
Albright, who independently obtained satellite imagery from August, said the foundation for the new factory was being prepared. The facility is planned for completion in 2027.
Internal Rosatom documents say the expansion is intended in part to substitute imports of dual-use products and meet demand for carbon fiber from Russia's aviation and defense industries.
Russia is also seeking to reduce its dependence on imported materials used to manufacture high-grade carbon fiber.
The Alabuga-Volokno factory and its parent company, Rosatom's advanced materials division UMATEX, are under U.S., U.K. and other Western sanctions.
Politico previously reported that Alabuga-Volokno received a disguised shipment of 46 metric tons of carbon-fiber materials from a Chinese state-owned company earlier this year.
Russia has sharply expanded its use of attack drones against Ukraine, regularly launching large-scale barrages intended to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.