According to Sky News, an intelligence leak has indicated that a Russian Il-76 transported €140m in cash and a British NLAW anti-tank missile, a US Javelin anti-tank missile and a Stinger anti-aircraft missile – to an airport in Tehran on 20 August. This exchange was the Russian part of the deal for the nearly 160 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and 100 Shahed-136 drones, the source claimed. Moscow and Tehran have reportedly also reached a second deal this week, although the terms have not been publicly released or leaked.
These weapons reportedly were retrieved by Russian military and intelligence personnel on the battlefields of Ukraine. The United States and the United Kingdom have sent thousands of these weapons to arm Ukraine since the February 24th, 2022 Russian invasion. This shipment has been reported to supply the IRGC directly. Their weapons analysts may be able to reverse engineer the sensitive components of the infrared seeker heads of the Stinger and Javelin (which is self-imaging). This reverse engineering could either be used to create their own advanced seekers or reduce the signature of their aircraft to be more survivable against these American systems.
