we don't need to worry about other nations copying the iranian shahed loitering munition drone. first of all, the weapon is more advanced anyway due to the experience of the ukraine war, and i doubt that the nations have integrated this experience. If they did, they copied the initial version. secondly, the shahed drone is I don't want to say obsolete, but the ukraine has become more effective at shooting it down than before. However, Iran still has a few more weapons up its sleeve that can respond to Ukraine's new capabilities and that the other nations can't take into account.
And then there is the cheap production which is partly exclusive only in Iran possible because energy prices and labor prices are very favorable. Turkey can copy the shahed, but the low-cost production and the experience that goes into it cannot be imitated so easily. I believe that Turkey cannot produce this device in large numbers because a system is simply not as profitable for them as it is for Iran. China might be able to keep up.
Here an example of how much different factors can influence the price of a product:
Material costs: 30-40%
Energy costs: 10-20%
Transportation costs abroad: 5-10%
Production method: 5-15%
Labor costs: 20-30%
Iran turkey comparision of different fields that influence price:
Tecnician Salary annual Turkey (labour costs): 43.000€ (only average)
Tecnician Salary annual China(labour costs): 15.000€ (only average)
Tecnician Salary annual Iran(labour costs): 6.000€ (only average)
Iran Energycosts: 0,06 US-Dollar per kWh
China Energycosts: 0.08 US-Dollar per kWh
Turkey Energycosts: 0,14 US-Dollar per kWh
Turkey: sea transportation, the cost can range from 0.01 USD to 0.10 USD per kilometer
China: sea transportation Costs can range from 0.01 USD to 0.15 USD per kilometer
Iran: sea transportation, the cost can range from 0.02 USD to 0.15 USD per kilometer
Material Costs in Turkey are between 20% to 40% higher because iran can produce many parts at home and owns many resources needed for these materials while turkey have to import more parts.
As a rough estimate, material costs for manufacturing drone motors, drone bodies, and other components in China may be around 10-30% lower compared to Iran.
based on this data, a turkish copy of the iranian shahed drone would cost about $30,000 per unit. That is $10,000 more than the Iranian version. In addition, their versions are not up to date and are not battle tested.
As a rough estimate, the production cost of a drone in China may be around 10-30% lower compared to Iran