Libya-bound Chinese war drones disguised as wind turbines seized by Italy

Italian authorities have reportedly intercepted and confiscated Chinese-made drones heading for Libya. According to official sources, the drones were disassembled and disguised as wind turbine equipment.

Italian customs officers seized the drone parts on June 18 after a tip from United States intelligence. According to official reports, the drone parts were packed in shipping containers at the port of Gioia Tauro in the southern region of Calabria.

The parts included the main drone assemblies, drone control stations, and other ancillary gear. They were reportedly disguised as wind turbine parts and packed alongside replica blades.

The parts have now been impounded as war-stricken Libya is subject to an international arms embargo.

Wing Loong drones disguised as wind turbines

The material was seized from the container ship MSC Arina, which had departed from the southern Chinese port of Yantian and was en route to Benghazi, an eastern Libyan port controlled by military commander Khalifa Haftar, the report stated, citing “strong” U.S. suspicions.

Last weekend , Italian investigators seized three more suspicious containers that had arrived at the same port on another cargo ship, the MSC Apolline .

The drones have been reported as a mixture of Chinese-made Wing Loong I and Wing Loong II. According to The War Zone (TWZ) , both variants have previously been reported as being used in the ongoing Libyan Civil War.

These drones are medium-altitude, long-endurance drones similar to the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper. The Wing Loong series, developed primarily for surveillance, can also be equipped with air-to-ground weapons such as Blue Arrow-7 missiles.

The shipments seized by the Italians reportedly did not contain any weapons for the drones. With a typical range of around 1,000 miles (1,610 km) and an endurance of approximately 20 hours (depending on payload and other factors), the Wing Loong can operate across the entire expanse of Libya.

Photos and videos have since been released that show the extent of efforts to conceal the contents’ true nature. Official reports show that the drone parts were placed inside protective coverings similar to those used for transporting wind turbine blades.

Official reports also suggest a deliberate attempt to disguise military equipment as civilian cargo, possibly involving forged documents. It’s uncertain what action the Italian prosecutors will take next.

Intended for the Libyan National Army

It is also unclear whether the Chinese government was involved in the smuggling operation. It is important to note that the equipment might have also been sourced secondhand from other places before shipment.

Whatever the case , the drones and other undisclosed arms were most likely intended for receipt by General Haftar. Haftar leads the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the eastern part of the country.

He has been in power since his attempt to take over the rest of the country stalled in 2020, following intense fighting with the Government of National Unity (GNA) during a civil war that began after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Libya plunged into turmoil following the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-supported uprising in 2011 and is now divided between competing administrations in the east and west.