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.
It is the most detailed published assessment to date of the part played by Western components in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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.
Other components came from companies in countries including Japan, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, where RUSI is based.
“Russian weapons that are critically dependent upon Western electronics have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Ukrainians,” said Jack Watling, a land warfare specialist at RUSI.
While many of the foreign components are found in everyday household goods such as microwaves that are not subject to export controls, RUSI said a strengthening of export restrictions and enforcement could make it harder for Russia to replenish its arsenal of weapons such as cruise missiles.
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.
The parts were made by companies that included US-based Texas Instruments Inc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, as well as Cypress Semiconductor, which is now owned by Infineon AG, a German company, the RUSI investigation found.
In another case, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, which has been used to strike Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, also had 31 foreign components with parts manufactured by companies including US-based Intel Corporation and AMD-owned Xilinx.
