The Russian fighter jet manufacturer Sukhoi uses a significant number of different components made in the USA and Japan in its aircraft. This is stated in the investigation of the Schemes project, which is based on data obtained from Ukrainian intelligence, UNN reports.
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It is noted that the list includes two thousand foreign-made electronics components contained in Su-27SM3, Su-30SM, Su-34, Su-35S and Su-57 aircraft.
A number of intermediaries are involved in the supply chain of western electronics from the manufacturer to Russian factories, including those from Hungary, Cyprus, Turkey, China and Russia. Moreover, in Russia, these are suppliers associated with the military-industrial complex, which have not been subject to sanctions.
These fighters are carriers of missile and bomb weapons, which Russia is actively using in the war against Ukraine and regularly reports on the receipt of new aircraft by the Russian army. The Su is used to launch aircraft bombs, such as KAB-500 or KAB-1500, and guided missiles, such as the X-59 and its modernized version, the X-69.
Russian SUs massively use parts from the United States-for example, from American manufacturers Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and others-and from Japan. In particular, the manufacturer Murata.
These electronics are at the heart of missile and bomb navigation and guidance systems, electronic warfare and communication between aircraft and control centers.
Chinese companies export most Western electronics to Russia. The top twenty companies in terms of shipments also include companies from Serbia, Turkey and the UAE. Some of them have already been sanctioned by the US, Ukraine and other countries. These include, for example, Hong Kong-based Win Key, China's Imaxchip Technology Co, and Serbia's Kominvex Doo.
There are also companies that have not been sanctioned. In particular, these are Hong Kong Yayang Trading, Turkish Nurzat Ic Ve Dis Tic, Chinese Your Source International Co, Cypriot Noratec Holdings, and Hungarian Matrix Metal Group.
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Director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise Oleksandr Ruvin previously saidthat Russians are looking for ways to hide the fact that they use foreign components in the weapons they use to attack Ukraine on a daily basis.
He noted that the Russians, in particular, erase the name of the manufacturer or the number by which it can be identified. He added that foreign partners are constantly asking which countries the components are from in order to take appropriate measures.
"They take this painfully. They are interested in which company, whose production, when the component was produced, because in many cases the Russians erase the numbers, erase the manufacturers. And we have to use special methods that we have to conduct examinations," Ruvin said.
At the same time, he clarified that sanctions against Russia are in effect, but supplies are carried out through countries that have not joined the sanctions regime.
"The sanctions are in effect. They apply only to the purchase of these components by the Russian Federation or its satellites. But there are third and fourth countries from which it is also possible to supply, and this is probably what is being done," Ruvin added.