- Two military drones were seized by Italian authorities as they were heading to Libya from China.
- They were found in containers and disguised to look like wind turbine parts, Italian authorities said.
- The Times reported that these were Wing Loong drones, made in China and often compared to the Reaper.
Italy has seized parts of two combat drones disguised as wind turbines from containers en route from China to Libya, customs and maritime authorities said Tuesday.
Authorities at the port of Gioia Tauro intercepted six containers labeled as wind turbine spare parts that actually contained fuselages and wings of military drones, the financial police said in a statement. The agency patrols Italian waters and is tasked with combating smuggling.
Investigators said the drone parts were hidden among materials made to resemble wind turbine fan blades “in an attempt to disguise the checks being performed.”
According to the financial police, the drones have a tonnage of more than 3 tons, a length of more than 32 feet and a wingspan of more than 65 feet.
The Times of London reported on Sunday that Italian authorities had acted on intelligence provided by the United States.
It was reported that three containers were seized on June 18 from the MSC Arina ship and that authorities expected three more to arrive over the weekend on the MSC Apolline.
According to the newspaper, the drones were Wing Loong drones destined for Benghazi for delivery to Libyan General Khalifa Haftar. The deliveries included two control stations for the drones, according to the Times.
The drone specifications listed by the Financial Guard, which did not name the drones in its statement, match those of the Wing Loong-2 listed by Chinese state media.
As a long-endurance, remotely controlled weapons platform, the Wing Loong-2 is often compared to the American-made MQ-9 Reaper, although its maximum speed and altitude are lower than the latter.
When it was introduced in 2017, Chinese state media hailed it as a sign that Beijing was the first to match the United States in a “new generation of integrated large-scale reconnaissance and strike drones.”
Neither the Times nor the Financial Guard mentioned whether the Chinese government was involved.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Italian authorities did not say whether the shipment contained munitions for drones. They added that the seized cargo likely violated a long-standing United Nations arms embargo on Libya.
Haftar’s faction, the Libyan National Army, is based in eastern Libya and attempted to overthrow the country’s internationally recognized government in 2020.
A former officer in Muammar Gaddafi’s administration, he has forged close ties with Russia, and Moscow has promised to support his military as he extends his control over much of Libya.
The Wing Loong-2 had been reported to be in use in Libya prior to the seizure. The United Nations determined that in 2019, the drone was likely used by Haftar’s forces in an attack on the outskirts of Tripoli.
The UN report and a BBC investigation found that the Wing Loong-2 drones were likely supplied by the United Arab Emirates, which has long been accused of supporting Haftar.
In April, two Libyans were charged in Canada with conspiring to sell Chinese-made drones to Libya in exchange for oil between 2018 and 2021.
