New American electronics found in Russian weapons - Washington Post

The Washington Post reported the story.

"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. 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. What we’ve done, though, is we’ve opened up an investigation on how that company’s chip got into that system," the Washington Post cited a Commerce Department official as saying.

The Commerce Department agents, who provide control over exports, are conducting investigations with the FBI. They visit companies to inquire about Western chips and components found in Russian radar systems, drones, tanks, ground equipment and coastal ships.

Investigators from different countries found Western electronics in Russian weapons found in Ukraine. Many of these components appear to have been manufactured many years ago, before the United States tightened export restrictions.  However, according to the research group Conflict Armament Research, others were made only in 2020, after Russia occupied the Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas.