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Italian customs and maritime authorities said on Tuesday they had seized parts of two combat drones disguised as wind turbines in a container en route from China to Libya.
Officials at the port of Gioia Tauro seized six containers labelled as wind turbine parts but actually stuffed with the fuselages and wings of military drones. the financial police said in a statement. The agency is tasked with patrolling Italian waters and cracking down on smuggling.
Investigators said the drone parts were hidden inside material made to resemble wind turbine fan blades “with the intent of disguising the testing that was taking place.”
Financial police said the drone has a total weight of more than three tons, is more than 32 feet long and has a wingspan of more than 65 feet.
London Times reported on Sunday Italian authorities acted on information from the United States.
According to the article, three containers were seized from the MSC Arena on June 18, and authorities expect three more to arrive on the MSC Apolline over the weekend.
The media outlet said the drone was a Wing Lun UAV bound for Benghazi to be delivered to Libya’s General Khalifa Haftar. The package included two control stations for the drone, according to the Times.
The drone specifications released by Financial Guard match those of the Wing Long 2, although the company did not name the drone in its statement. According to Chinese state media reports.
As a long-flight remotely piloted weapons platform, the Wing Dragon 2 is often compared to the US-made MQ-9 Reaper, but its top speed and altitude are inferior to the latter.
When it was introduced in 2017, Chinese state media hailed it as a sign that China had become the first country to rival the United States with a “new generation of large-scale integrated reconnaissance and attack drones.”
Neither the Times nor the Financial Guard said whether the Chinese government was involved.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Italian authorities also declined to say whether the shipment contained drone munitions, adding that the seized shipment was likely a violation of a long-standing embargo. UN embargo Regarding arms shipments to and from Libya.
Haftar’s faction, the Libyan National Army, is based in eastern Libya. Attempted subversion The country’s government was internationally recognized in 2020.
A former officer in Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, he has close ties with Russia, which has pledged to support his forces as he expands his control over much of Libya.
Prior to this seizure, Wing Loon 2s had been reported to have been used in Libya. The United Nations in 2019The drone was likely used by Haftar’s forces in attacks on the outskirts of Tripoli.
UN report and BBC investigation It turns out that the Wing Loon 2 drones were likely supplied by the United Arab Emirates. It has long been accused of backing Haftar.
During April, Two Libyan men charged in Canada They allegedly conspired to sell Chinese-made drones to Libya in exchange for oil between 2018 and 2021.