Leaked files show Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter missile launchers
Leaked Russian defence industry documents, obtained by Ukrainian private intelligence firm Dallas Analytics and shared with the Guardian, show plans to supply Iran with 90 launchers for LMUR guided missiles. They shed light on Moscow–Tehran military ties as Washington weighs its next steps in the war against Iran.
Russia arranged to deliver 90 guided-missile launchers to Iran, according to leaked Russian defence industry documents. The files were obtained by Dallas Analytics, a Ukrainian private intelligence firm, and shared with the Guardian. They show how deep military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran runs, at a time when Washington is weighing its next move in the war against Iran after the US midterm elections.
What the documents show
The launchers are for the LMUR, a guided missile fired from attack helicopters, which Russian forces have used extensively against Ukrainian targets since the full-scale invasion in 2022. A production schedule drawn up in May 2024 by Vympel, a leading Russian designer of missiles and launch systems, lists an order for 90 launchers under an export contract designated “K-10”. Deliveries were scheduled between late 2024 and December 2025. Separate internal paperwork explicitly identifies K-10 as Iran.
The records do not establish whether the launchers were ultimately delivered. A separate production schedule listing six Yak-130 jet trainers destined for Iran in 2023 is consistent with publicly reported deliveries of those aircraft.
Wider context
Observers widely regard Moscow as one of the main winners of the prolonged war in Iran. Global energy prices have risen because of disrupted shipping through the strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Higher oil revenues give the Kremlin extra funds for its war in Ukraine. The war has also diverted international attention and western military resources from Ukraine, further straining Kyiv's access to US-made Patriot air defence interceptors.
US President Donald Trump wrote last month that Russia was doing “very little, if anything” to help Tehran. European intelligence agencies, however, say Russia has given Iran key data and satellite images that could help it target US forces in the Middle East, and that Moscow was preparing to supply explosive-laden drones. Moscow denies supplying military equipment to Iran for the current conflict.
In the May 2024 letter, Vympel warned that delays in deliveries of essential components threatened the assembly of the launchers and risked disrupting Russian state defence contracts.
