Italian Customs have seized components of two Chinese-made Wing Loong military drones. These drones were disguised as wind turbine parts for export and were intercepted at the port of Gioia Tauro.
Italian Customs stated that after inspecting six containers from China destined for Libya through maritime routes and examining the attached customs documents, they found abnormal conditions.
The containers were labeled as components for wind power generator assembly. However, upon inspecting these so-called wind turbine kits, it was discovered that certain components and structural details of the goods indicated they might be parts of equipment suitable for flight, such as military drones’ fuselage and wings.
These components were concealed within some replicated wind turbine blades. “The purpose was to hide and evade inspection,” Customs said in a statement.
According to the videos and photos released by Italian authorities, the assembled drones weigh over 3 tons, are over 10 meters in length, and have a wingspan of approximately 20 meters. The drones also had wind energy equipment labels in both Chinese and English stating “saving world.”
Italy stated that they seized the Chinese military drones based on a United Nations Security Council resolution prohibiting international arms sales to Libya and Italian national laws.
The national Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera had reported in June that the Italian security forces, in collaboration with US intelligence on June 18, intercepted a shipment of weapons destined for Libya aboard the MSC Arina container ship at the port of Gioia Tauro. Analysts suspected these were military drones.
The MSC Arina ship departed from the Yantian Port in Shenzhen, China, on April 30, made a stop in Singapore, circumvented the Cape of Good Hope, bypassed the Red Sea and Suez Canal, and finally entered the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar. It was only upon reaching Gioia Tauro that US authorities decided to seize the weapons shipment and seek Italy’s assistance.
The weapons were believed to be prepared for the forces led by the eastern Libyan warlord Khalifa Belqasim Haftar.
Before this seizure, Libya had reportedly used Wing Loong 2 drones.
Following the death of dictator Gaddafi in 2011, Libya plunged into a prolonged civil war to this day. Currently, the internationally recognized Government of National Accord controls the west, but Haftar in the east does not recognize it.
The MSC Arina was not detained and left Gioia Tauro for the western Mediterranean on June 20.
This is the second recent case, following a Libyan smuggling incident uncovered by Canadian customs in April, of Libya attempting to smuggle Chinese-made drones into the country for warfare.
Judging from the drone’s appearance, the Chinese drones smuggled into Libya were Wing Loong-2 drones, resembling the US-developed MQ-9 Reaper drones, developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group.
As a long-endurance remote weapon platform, the Wing Loong 2 is often compared to the MQ-9 Reaper, though it falls short in terms of maximum speed and altitude.
When Wing Loong was introduced in 2017, Chinese state media hyped it as Beijing’s first emblem in the “new generation of large reconnaissance and strike integrated drones” competing with the US.
Due to China’s military drones having no moral restrictions and being priced affordably, they have become favored by some countries, especially those under international sanctions. In contrast, the US imposes strict restrictions on exporting military drones, requiring potential buyers to meet stringent human rights and international law standards, which China disregards.
Moreover, Chinese drones are only a fraction of the price of American drones. Although the price of the Wing Loong 2 is undisclosed, the Wing Loong 1 was priced at around $1 million, while the US Reaper drone costs approximately $30 million.