Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter-mounted launchers for precision-guided missiles widely used by Russian forces in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, revealing another dimension of Moscow's military cooperation with Tehran.
The previously unreported order adds to evidence of Russian assistance to Iran's military, including a secret program to help Tehran develop supersonic cruise missiles that could potentially threaten US Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf.
A Russian defense industry production schedule covering 2024 and 2025, obtained by the FT, identified an export order for 90 APU-L launchers from a buyer designated "K-10," a code used by Russia's state arms exporter to refer to Iran.
The documents did not establish whether the launchers were ultimately delivered.
Precision-guided weapons used in Ukraine
The launchers are designed to carry Russia's light multipurpose guided missile, known as LMUR or Izdeliye 305, a precision weapon capable of striking moving targets.
The missile entered Russian military service in 2022 and has since been widely used in Ukraine. An operator can guide it during flight, allowing adjustments to its target.
According to the US Army's Worldwide Equipment Guide, APU-L launchers are designed for Russia's Mi-28 attack helicopters and can carry two missiles each.
Iran has already acquired Russian Mi-28 helicopters. In November 2023, Iranian officials announced that arrangements for their delivery had been finalized. Images appearing online in January 2026 subsequently showed an Mi-28 at an aviation facility in Tehran, according to the FT.
The production documents were provided to the newspaper by Dallas Analytics, a Ukrainian private intelligence organization.
A May 2024 letter from Russian missile manufacturer Vympel warned another defense bureau that delays in supplying launcher components could jeopardize several contracts.
Russia also helped Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles
The latest report follows a September FT investigation revealing that Russia had secretly assisted Iran in developing supersonic cruise missile technology through a program codenamed C430L.
According to leaked Russian correspondence, travel records and military patents reviewed by the newspaper, the program began in 2023 and continued during this year's war involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
The project focused on developing a ramjet propulsion system capable of sustaining missile flight at several times the speed of sound, potentially reducing the time available for US and allied air defenses to respond.
"For the Iranians, this would give them a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten US Navy vessels," Jim Lamson, a former CIA military analyst specializing in Iran, told the FT.
Iran had built and flight-tested the propulsion system, but the newspaper found no evidence that a Russian-assisted supersonic cruise missile had entered operational service.
Russian engineers reportedly traveled repeatedly to Iran and later analyzed Iranian flight-test data, advising on fuel systems, combustion stability, air intake and engine design.
"This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades," Fabian Hinz, a senior analyst at Conflict Armament Research, told the FT in September.
Military cooperation deepens during Iran war
The launcher agreement and missile development program illustrate different aspects of Russian assistance to Tehran, ranging from supplying military equipment to transferring specialized technical knowledge.
The FT has also reported that Russia agreed to supply Iran with Verba shoulder-fired air defense systems.
The relationship has developed in both directions. Iran previously supplied Russia with Shahed attack drones used in Ukraine and helped Moscow establish domestic production.
Western intelligence officials told the FT that Moscow and Tehran had strengthened their military partnership further during this year's conflict in the Middle East, despite US President Donald Trump's assertion that Russia was doing "very little, if anything" to assist Iran.
"It is indicative of Russia's willingness to continue supplying Iran despite its own wartime demands and with far less concern about western objections than in the past," Nicole Grajewski, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the newspaper.
Limits to Moscow's involvement
Despite growing cooperation, analysts cautioned against overstating Russia's role in the ongoing conflict.
Hanna Notte, Eurasia program director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said Moscow was balancing its support for Iran against its relationships with Washington and other countries in the Middle East.
"Russia still has certain red lines when it comes to its involvement in this war," Notte told the FT.
"Which is why the support it has provided to Iran is operationally helpful but is not the game changer in this war."
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