Microelectronics manufactured by the United States and its allies are key components of the Russian weapons systems used in the invasion of Ukraine, according to a report by the Royal United Service Institute in the UK.
RUSI Report, Silicon Lifeline: Western Electronics as the Heart of Russia’s War Machine, says it has found more than 450 foreign-made parts in Russian weapons recovered in Ukraine. The report’s authors say Moscow acquired key technology from companies in the United States, Europe and Asia years before the invasion.
Ukraine says Russia launched more than 3,650 missiles and guided rockets into its territory in the first five months of the war. Most of the weapons rely heavily on Western-made microelectronics technology, according to Gary Somerville, co-author of the report and a research fellow at RUSI’s Open-Source Intelligence and Analysis Research Group.
“They don’t really seem to have the ability to reproduce many of these critical microelectronics, at least on the same level of sophistication and scale. These are very sophisticated processing units. It’s absolutely essential for precision-guided munitions and such,” Somerville told VOA.
This includes one of Russia’s most advanced weaponry, the Russian Iskander 9M727 cruise missile. RUSI researchers recovered several missiles from the field in Ukraine and examined the microelectronics inside.
They used several Western-sourced components, including digital signal processors, flash memory modules, and static RAM modules manufactured by US-based companies such as Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, and Cypress Semiconductor. or discovered
A Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, some targeting the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, was found to contain 31 foreign-made components.
common chip
All microelectronics companies mentioned in the report said they had complied with trade sanctions and had stopped selling components to Russia. There is no indication in the report that the company violated export control laws.
“How does Russia get this? I’ve actually looked at many of these components and they’re very mundane, in many ways they’re ubiquitous, microwave ovens, dishwashers, etc. You can find it practically in all kinds of electronic devices.
Such microelectronics were freely available before Russia invaded Ukraine.
However, RUSI also identified at least 81 components classified as “dual-use” by the US Department of Commerce and subject to US export controls.
These include high-performance CMOS static RAM microchips, originally manufactured by US-based Cypress Semiconductor, used by Russian special forces to locate and estimate coordinates for precision artillery and airstrikes. found in handheld navigation systems used for
According to RUSI’s report, “The component is a high-speed, ultra-low-power memory chip 148, classified as a dual-use item for export.”
Two-thirds of the foreign components found in Russian weapons systems are manufactured by US-based companies. Japan was the second largest supplier.
export ban
Many of the microelectronics found in the weapons are decades old, and after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, many countries banned the export of such parts to Russia.
Somerville said he pointed to Russia’s history of using elaborate methods to procure technology.
“It is by using a number of front companies that superficially appear legitimate when doing due diligence checks, but in reality they are actually big Russian companies and actually members of big Russian companies. It could be, or be somewhat affiliated with, the military-industrial complex,” he said.
The report details how Russia uses fake end-user certificates and transshipment companies based in third countries, including Hong Kong, to obscure final destinations.
It cited Russian customs records showing that in March 2021, a company imported $600,000 worth of electronic equipment manufactured by Texas Instruments through a Hong Kong-based distributor. increase. Seven months after him, the same company imported another $1.1 million worth of Xilinx microelectronics, according to RUSI.
U.S. and allied sanctions imposed on Russian arms manufacturers and the companies that supply them must be strengthened, Somerville said.
“What sanctions and effective enforcement of these sanctions can do is raise the cost for Russia to acquire these particular microelectronics,” he said.
The report’s authors say Russia is currently busy procuring large amounts of microelectronics, and any cut in supply could permanently weaken its military might.
Some of the information in this report was provided by Reuters.
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