Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter missile launchers, leaked documents say

Amid rising regional tension, Russia has agreed to supply Iran with 90 missile launchers. The launchers are suitable for use on helicopters and are made for precision-guided missiles.

The Financial Times reported the information on Thursday, citing secret documents from an export contract of a Russian defence equipment manufacturer.

The report said the Financial Times had obtained documents from the Vympel State Machine Building Design Bureau, a subsidiary of Russia's state defence company KTRV.

Those documents mention, in production schedules for 2024 and 2025, an order for 90 APU-L missile launchers for a buyer codenamed K-10. In Russian defence documents, that code is used to refer to Iran.

The documents also name seven Russian buyers, including an order for 192 APU-305 launchers for China.

Suitable for use on Russia's Mi-28 attack helicopter, the launchers can carry the Izdeliye 305 light multipurpose guided missile, which can strike moving targets 14 kilometres, or 8.7 miles, away.

Ukrainian intelligence firm Dallas Analytics supplied the documents to the Financial Times and later published them on a website. Whether Iran has already received the equipment, however, is not clear.

Since the joint US and Israeli attacks across Iran began on 28 February, various international media have reported that Moscow has been helping Tehran with weapons, satellite information and intelligence.

President Vladimir Putin, however, has repeatedly denied the allegations, stressing in May that Russia is not supplying Tehran with any weapons.

Moscow-Tehran relations have deepened since Russia began its operation in Ukraine in 2022. In November 2023, Iran finalised a deal to buy Russia's Sukhoi-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 helicopters and Yak-130 trainer aircraft.

In a recent interview, Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said the purchase of Sukhoi-35 jets had been completed, but they would be handed over after the current war ends.

High-level visits and contacts between the two countries have also increased in recent months. On Tuesday, on the sidelines of a forum of gas-exporting countries in Moscow, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, in October, the two countries also discussed expanding economic and strategic cooperation.