US probing how American electronics wound up in Russian military gear

[rebewranger]

US probing how American electronics wound up in Russian military gear
By JEANNE WHALEN
THE WASHINGTON POST • June 16, 2022
 
Federal agents have begun questioning U.S. technology companies on how their computer chips ended up in Russian military equipment recovered in Ukraine.

Commerce Department agents who enforce export controls are conducting the inquiries together with the FBI, paying joint visits to companies to ask about Western chips and components found in Russian radar systems, drones, tanks, ground-control equipment and littoral ships, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive investigations.

“Our goal is to actually try to track that back, all the way back to the U.S. supplier” to determine “how did it find its way into that weapons system,” one Commerce official said of the probes.

“Just because a chip, a company’s chip, is found in a weapon system doesn’t mean we’ve opened up an investigation on that company,” the official added. “What we’ve done, though, is we’ve opened up an investigation on how that company’s chip got into that system.”

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2022-06-15/us-electronic-chips-russian-military-6356609.html

[rebewranger]

When you sell weapons systems to everyone in the world, even places like East Sleezyland, it isn't too difficult to imagine Russia getting their hands on most anything.  

[PeteS in CA]

WRT ICs, my guess is that companies' foundry CMs produced extra wafers and sold those extra, off-the-books, ICs to whomever.

The underlying interesting part if how the US is getting Russian equipment to evaluate. For decades, Israel was a primary source, and may yet be. Former Soviet satellites may have given access to equipment as well. More/very recently, Ukraine has also given the US captured Russian equipment.

[Fishrrman]

Purchased courtesy of the W&H Clinton trading company...

[SZonian]

One would be surprised at how many products are "export controlled".

However, once the product meeting "export controlled" requirements has been delivered, there's not much that can be done about keeping it out of the enemies hands except for the trustworthiness of the "authorized" recipient.

[Kamaji]

WRT ICs, my guess is that companies' foundry CMs produced extra wafers and sold those extra, off-the-books, ICs to whomever.

The underlying interesting part if how the US is getting Russian equipment to evaluate. For decades, Israel was a primary source, and may yet be. Former Soviet satellites may have given access to equipment as well. More/very recently, Ukraine has also given the US captured Russian equipment.

Ukraine is apparently providing some of the captured Russian equipment to the U.S.  The Russians have certainly abandoned enough of their stuff in Ukraine to make this a reasonable source.