Sanctions Be Damned, Putin’s War Machine Is Still Powered by U.S. Parts

Over two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Putin’s aircraft still use U.S., Japanese, and European components. A forthcoming report from the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, a Ukrainian think tank known as NAKO, found shocking evidence that components from hundreds of foreign companies are present in Russian military planes. Of those foreign made components, over 60 percent came from American manufacturers such as Texas Instruments and Intel. The products themselves, such as circuit boards and semiconductors, sound mundane but are deeply important to aircraft manufacturing. Many are listed as “highest priority” by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security due to a “heightened risk of being diverted illegally to Russia because of their importance to Russia’s war efforts.”

Even amid sanctions and export controls, NAKO’s report found that Russia has increased its imports of western made electronic components since 2021, in some cases by more than 500 percent. In 2023 alone, they found that Russia imported over $4 Billion in components connected to aircraft manufacturing. These components make it possible for the Russian air force to maintain its role in Ukraine. NAKO has published numerous authoritative reports on components in Russian weapons.

The problem extends beyond Russia’s planes. Western components are found in Russian weapons such as drones and missiles, but Russia’s ability to maintain its aircraft and build new ones is a key part of its war effort. Russia enjoys a large advantage in airpower over Ukraine, which makes it hard for Kyiv to hold ground and even harder to reclaim it. Russia relies heavily on “glide bombs” launched from aircraft to pound Ukrainian positions.

Read more at The Daily Beast.