Four rotors and a prayer: How Russia built a billion-ruble drone industry using Chinese parts

The VT-40’s components are almost entirely imported: Rustakt sources controllers, batteries, antennas, motors, cameras, and even plastic shells and nuts from China. Some shipments go directly to Bataysk, which appears to house a drone assembly facility. Russian pro-war Telegram channels have criticized the inflated pricing of the VT-40 — reportedly costing 20,000 rubles ($247) to build, with a sale price of 40,000 ($494) — and questioned its performance, claiming the drone was an ineffective PR project that often failed to reach its targets.

“Lately, there’s been a growing number of complaints from the front lines about the ‘Sudoplatov’ drones. The issue is there’s pressure to produce flashy footage of strikes on vehicles, while actual combat needs are being ignored — for example, when multiple drones are required to fly into a bunker entrance to allow assault infantry to close in and reduce casualties,” wrote self-styled Russian “war correspondent” Roman Saponkov in December 2023.

In January 2024, a Ukrainian strike hit the testing site for Russian FPV drone operators, killing 24 people. One theory suggests the drones’ uniform transmitter frequencies, a result of rapid mass production, made them easy targets for Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.

By May 2024, according to Saponkov, the Defense Ministry had cut ties with the Sudoplatov project. However, the manufacturer’s own Telegram channel indicates that the drones are still being used on the front.

Problems have also emerged at drone producers Sibiryachok and Sibir. In late 2024, a criminal case was launched against Vladislav Pylysky, former head of the “Siberian Navigation Company.” A source told state-run news agency TASS that “the Defense Ministry had questions about the quality of engines used in UAVs intended for the armed forces.”

The Siberian Navigation Company, along with UAMOC, co-owns LLC EVR (ООО «ЭВР»), which manufactures the Sibiryachok drone. The company is propped up by billions of rubles from the Moscow city budget.