Witness drone undergoes major upgrade! Capable of flying at 480 km/h to evade interception; key components sourced from China.

2026-08-26 15:11 – United Daily News; Translated by Zhou Chenyang / Real-time report

In early July, Russia launched a large-scale attack on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine; the low-cost one-way attack drone used in this operation, the Shahed, has been upgraded to use a turbojet engine instead of the traditional propeller for propulsion. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on the 26th, this drone is now closer to a missile in terms of its capabilities, with a maximum flight speed of approximately 480 kilometers per hour – roughly three times that of its predecessor.

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The "Witness" appears simple – composed of fiberglass, microchips, and explosives – yet it is highly destructive and can be purchased for as low as US$20,000. Russia has dubbed its version of the "Witness" the "Geran"; it is sometimes launched alongside ballistic missiles in an attempt to overwhelm air defense systems. Ukrainian officials state that older single-maneuver attack drones typically have an interception rate of over 90%, but the new turbojet variant is fast enough to evade interceptor drones, requiring it to be shot down by fighter jets or using the limited number of available interceptor missiles.

Current and former U.S. officials and experts have noted that mainland China has long served as the primary distribution hub for critical components—including engine parts, servo motors, and gyroscopes. Ukrainian officials who inspected certain drones stated that such technological upgrades, like other innovations, were made possible with China's assistance, and that Chinese factories supplied the drones' engines.

When Iran developed the "Witnesser" aircraft, it adopted the design originally created by the United States and West Germany; however, its manufacturing still required components sourced from around the world. One of the major challenges faced by Iranian engineers at the time was finding an engine capable of operating continuously for several hours under high-speed and high-temperature conditions – the optimal solution was a German-designed engine known as the L 550 E. A Chinese company began distributing this engine in 2012 and, in 2017, directly acquired the German company, making it easier for Iran to import the engine.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury noted that Iran later developed a domestically produced engine based on the Limbach model, under the leadership of the Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar company affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, though it still relied on low-cost components procured from China. Ukraine stated that Abdollah Mehrabi, a co-owner and chairman of this company, was directly responsible for a 2022 transaction involving the sale of more than 13,000 "Witness" aircraft to Russia, including components and manufacturing equipment, with a total value of US$324 million.

Iranian and Russian single-use attack drones have also long relied on Western components. An investigation by the U.S. Department of the Treasury revealed that nearly all European and American components were transported via Chinese intermediaries—typically ordered by Hong Kong shell companies from Western suppliers while concealing their actual destination as Iran or Russia. However, Ukrainian officials and experts note that even as the navigation and attack capabilities of the "Witness" drones continue to advance, Western components are gradually disappearing, being replaced by an increasing number of Chinese-made components.

Currently, both China and India have publicly unveiled their respective versions of the "Witness" drone. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Iran has also sold its drone technology to Venezuela, Syria, and Ethiopia; the Russian African Group has also deployed the "Witness" drone in Mali. Inspired by this technology, the U.S. military has developed a low-cost drone that has been put into service during the U.S.–Iran conflict.

Former U.S. Treasury official Kerri Bitsoff noted that the long-term focus of "Witnesses" has always been securing Western components, but the situation has now changed, "as China's ability to manufacture such components and technologies has grown stronger."