China, Russia Bidding for US Drone Captured by Iran
By wchung | 23 May, 2025

Shanghaied: The RQ-170's technology is likely to fall into the hands of China or Russia.

The US RQ-170 spy drone that fell into Iranian hands recently may end up being sold to either Russia or China, according to an unnamed source cited by China Times. Both nations have already sent military delegations to Tehran in hopes of securing the hi-tech unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Iran simply doesn’t have the technical capability to decipher the workings of the RQ-170 Sentinel, a bat-winged stealth drone. That makes it more likely to use it as a bargaining chip with which to acquire armaments that it has been seeking for some time.

What Iran would want from Russia in exchange for the drone is advanced nuclear and missile technology. In particular, it’s interested in solid fuel rockets and the S-300PMU-1 surface-to-air defense systems which Moscow is under NATO pressure not to sell to Iran.

China can’t offer weapons systems with the same degree of sophistication. However, it is less susceptible to US and NATO pressure, and therefore, better positioned to actually deliver armaments and possibly a large sum of cash to sweeten the deal.

China is especially keen to acquire more information on US stealth technology from the RQ-170. Some military analysts believe China had already acquired considerable knowledge of such technology from an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter that had crashed in Serbia in 1999 and used it to build its J-20 stealth fighter which was unveiled in January. China is also thought to have bought access to a US helicopter left behind in Pakistan after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Iran had initially claimed that it shot down the drone while it was on a CIA mission. It later changed its story, saying that it had remotely hacked into the RQ-170’s control system. Some US intelligence analysts believe that the RQ-170 may have been electronically hijacked by Russian electronic countermeasures operated by Russian agents. That theory is supported by what is seen as a rebirth of nationalism and anti-American sentiment in Russia.

Though Tehran would prefer to strike a deal with Russia because it can offer more advanced weapons systems, in the end China may be more willing to buck the US and its allies to provide weapons systems to Iran. There is also a significant possibility that Russia and China will strike a deal to share access to the drone. That would allow them to better withstand the resulting international condemnation.