Russian Weapons In Ukraine ‘Powered’ By Western Parts
An Anonymous Coward writes:
More than 450 foreign-made components have been found in Russian weapons recovered in Ukraine, evidence that Moscow acquired critical technology from companies in the United States, Europe and Asia in the years before the invasion, according to a new report.
Since the start of the war five months ago, the Ukrainian military has captured or recovered from the battlefield intact or partially damaged Russian weapons. When disassembled, 27 of these weapons systems, ranging from cruise missiles to air defence, were found to rely predominantly on Western components, according to research by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) defence think-tank.
[...] About two-thirds of the components were manufactured by US-based companies, RUSI found, based on the weapons recovered from Ukraine. Products manufactured by the US-based Analog Devices and Texas Instruments accounted for nearly one-quarter of all the Western components in the weapons.
[...] In one case, a Russian 9M727 cruise missile - one of the country's most advanced weapons that can manoeuvre at low altitude to evade radar and can strike targets hundreds of kilometres away - contained 31 foreign components.
[...] In response to questions about how their chips ended up in Russian weapons, the companies said they comply with trade sanctions and have stopped selling components to Russia.
[...] Russia is currently working to find new routes to secure access to Western microchips, according to RUSI. Many components are sold through distributors operating in Asia, such as Hong Kong, which acts as a gateway for electronics making their way to the Russian military or companies acting on its behalf, RUSI found.
With the way the global economy is set up, is export control on these kinds of chips enforceable in practice?
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