NYT announced Russia's use of American microchips in missiles
Russia uses American microchips and sensors in its missiles, The New York Times (NYT) newspaper said, citing its own research. According to the newspaper, since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, Russia has been able to receive chips worth almost $ 4 billion from more than 6,000 companies.
As noted, despite the fact that the West tried to block access to semiconductors through trade restrictions, Russia has created such a reliable parallel supply chain that in the last three months of 2023 it imported almost as many critical chips as in the same period of 2021. Also, according to the analysis, transactions are now increasingly carried out in yuan.
The NYT points out that technology imports to Russia begin with the fact that American chip manufacturers sell their products to international distributors. At the same time, according to the law, chip manufacturers are not required to track where their goods are sent. Then, as specified, Russia turns to international distributors in Hong Kong, China, Turkey, India, Serbia and Singapore to ensure stable supplies of equipment.
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| The AITERA chip. |
| Source: Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters |
The NYT drew attention to China's role in this process
As the world's leading electronics manufacturer, China imports a large number of Western components and manufactures consumer electronics from them. According to industry experts, Chinese firms can easily supply all this to Russia. At the same time, China has repeatedly denied that it provides weapons or equipment to any side of the conflict in Ukraine.
At the same time, due to limited domestic production capacity, the United States has no choice but to continue sending chips to China for production, packaging and assembly.
=bcsituation has changed. We have lost control over the production of chips
Elina Rybakova
Economist at the Peterson Institute of World Economics
American chips found in Russian missiles
One of the important chips in Russian missiles, according to the NYT, is the field programmable gate array, or F.P.G.A., manufactured by American companies such as Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. The chip is used in fire alarms, Internet modems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles for fast data processing and is prohibited for sale in Russia.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, cited by the NYT, China is the main supplier of chips — the country supplied 29 percent of all semiconductor devices imported by Russia. The article says that Texas Instruments, which manufactures chips for Shahed and Lancet unmanned aerial vehicles, has a chip assembly and testing plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu. At the same time, Micron Technology, another American chip manufacturer, manufactures chips in Xi'an.
American intelligence has suggested the supply of Chinese military technology to Russia
In its report "Support provided by the PRC to Russia," intelligence indicated that China supplies Russia with technologies and equipment that are used in the zone of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. It was noted that Chinese firms are probably helping Moscow evade sanctions, although it is "difficult to determine the extent" of this assistance.
China has repeatedly denied such reports. In particular, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun stressed that China does not supply weapons to participants in the Ukrainian conflict, and also carefully monitors the export of dual-use goods. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin noted that China takes a cautious and responsible position on issues related to arms exports.
