Are Iranian drones fitted with "stolen" light aircraft engines?

Iranian undercover operators may be behind the mysterious theft worldwide of nearly 140 civilian light aircraft engines since 2000, some of which have been used to power advanced drones supplied to Russia for recent strikes in Ukraine. Many of them were stolen in the UK and a special police national intelligence unit called Opal which focuses on organised crime is involved in investigating the thefts. Proof that Iran has been unlawfully acquiring the Austrian-made Rotax 912 piston engine emerged last week when CNN was shown a Mohajer-6 Iranian drone which had been shot down over the Black Sea. It was fitted with a Rotax engine. Another of Iran’s drones sold to Russia for the war in Ukraine, the Shahed-129, has been found to have a Rotax 914 four-cylinder engine. British investigators discovered that some of the thefts involved break-ins at airfields in different parts of the UK where engines have been ripped out, according to a website called Flyer which has been monitoring the incidents for several years. Other Rotax engine thefts have been reported in Germany, Norway, elsewhere in Europe and in the US. Under European Union trade embargoes, the sale of such engines to Iran and to Russia, whether for military or civilian use, is banned. Rotax which is a subsidiary of Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), a Canadian company, said: “We have been made aware of the alleged use of Rotax engines, or counterfeit engines, in certain specific situations involving Mohajer-6 drones in the conflict areas [in Ukraine].” “We ae taking this situation very seriously. BRP has not authorised and has not given any authorisation to its distributors to supply military UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] manufacturers in Iran or Russia,” the company said in a statement. More than 130 Rotax 912 and six Rotax 914 engines were stolen worldwide between 2000 and 2021, the company reported. However, the thefts have been going on for years. In the UK, the British Microlight Aircraft Association has been monitoring the thefts for more than 13 years, and has been cooperating with the West Mercia-based Opal police unit. Opal was established in 2019 to build up intelligence against organised crime groups. A spokesman for the Opal police unit said there had been no reports of further thefts in the last 12 months. to comment. But Rob Hughes, chief executive officer of the British Microlight Aircraft Association, told The Times:”The Rotax 912 is installed in microlight aircraft as it is a reliable and relatively powerful engine for its size and weight and delivers economical and quiet performance figures.” “Reports of thefts indicate there have been on average five per year since we started recording them in 2009. Often these thefts have been carried out in a professional manner. Entire engines are stolen by disconnecting oil, water and electrical systems,” he said. “We have no evidence to show that these particular stolen engines have ended up in Iranian drones. It’s possible of course, though Rotax 912 engines are used very widely throughout the world for many vehicles including snowmobiles, hovercraft and a whole range of other uses,” Hughes said.