Components from the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Korea were found in Russian cruise missiles and air defense systems
The report of Royal United Services Institute states that 450 foreign-made components were found in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.
What we know
After taking apart the cruise missiles and missiles of Russian air defense systems, the experts managed to establish that the majority of the 27 weapons are based on Western components. Approximately 66% foreign parts are produced by American companies. A quarter of them are electronics from Analog Devices and Texas Instrument. Also experts of Royal United Services Institute found components from Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain and South Korea.
For example, the 9M727 cruise missile is equipped with 31 foreign-made components. The missile uses components from Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Cypress Semiconductor (owned by Infineon AG).
31 foreign components were also found in the X-101 cruise missile worth over $10 million. The chips were developed by American companies Intel and Xilinx. The latter is owned by AMD. At the same time, both processor giants say they are sticking to sanctions and have stopped supplying components to Russia. Identical statements were made by Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and Infineon AG.
Note that a lot of microchips and other parts are also used for non-military purposes, so Russia could easily buy them online. For example, we recently wrote that there are chips in the Tornado-S missile guidance units, which are sold on AliExpress.
However, experts from Royal United Services Institute found about 80 chips subject to U.S. export controls. This means that companies have to check the chips before they are shipped to make sure they do not get into Russia and are not used for military purposes.
Overall, the study of Royal United Services Institute showed that the Russian military-industrial complex is still dependent on foreign components. They are used in both long-range munitions and conventional drones, which are consumables in war.
After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia found a way to gain access to Western microchips despite the sanctions. Primarily thanks to distributors from Asia. For example, in the spring of 2021, one company bought electronics from Texas Instruments for $600,000 through an intermediary in Hong Kong. A little later, the same company spent more than $1 million to buy Xilinx chips.
Source: Reuters
For those who want to know more:
- The AFU will receive Ukrainian drones ACS-3, SKIF and UJ-22 Airborne
- A spectacular video of the $3,600,000 launch of 24 missiles from four HIMARS multiple rocket launchers has been published
- Russian soldiers were so active in hiding from HIMARS that they accidentally blew up their own train of ammunition and equipment
- The Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed the rare UR-77 "Meteorite" mine clearing vehicle known as the "Zmey Gorynych"
- Ukrainian intelligence service will receive 78 DJI Matrice 300 RTK drones for ₴56,160,000 - 30 drones already in Ukraine
