Experts say many Russian weapons use non-Russian technologies. Only some models have unique but low-tech components.
This conclusion was reached by British arms researchers from Conflict Arms Research, which collects unique evidence of weapons supplies in armed conflicts and tracks how weapons and ammunition used for military purposes. They have release a report rejected Moscow’s claims that it had fundamentally reformed its military. The researchers also say that the ability of Russian weapons to compete with their Western counterparts is just a myth.
This particular report is also discussed in The New York Times.
The independent team of experts examined the main components of three types of Russian cruise missiles and attack helicopters.
Quality problems
Observers have found that the best weapons in Russia’s arsenal often contain fairly low-tech components. They often use a unique but relatively simple satellite navigation system. Experts say that this ‘mainstream’ Russian navigation system resembles the architecture of an open source GPS receiver. However, such receivers are not considered military grade products in Western countries.
“A team of electrical engineers from a college could build it,” said Arsenio Menendez, a NASA contractor specializing in redesigning guided weapons components. He also noted that similar GPS devices often produce satellite signal processing errors that can eventually cause cruise missiles to miss their targets by a large margin.
Experts from Conflict Armament Research note that militants often inspect captured military equipment with the aim of collecting valuable technical data. But they were surprised to find that many Russian weapons did not use any protection against so-called reverse engineering. This means that many of their weapons can be easily redesigned by enemies.
It is fair to acknowledge the fact that Russian-made weapons use certain security measures, similar to those available in commercial products such as credit card readers. But these measures are at least two decades old.
“Preferably late 1990s or mid 2000s. It’s essentially the Xbox 360 console equivalent and it looks like it’s open to anyone who wants to take it apart and build their own copy, Menendez said. after studying photographs of Russian military electronics taken by researchers.
Russian weapons, but not completely Russian?
The researchers note that many of the weapons used by the Russian invasion force to conduct air strikes against Ukrainian cities are often based on Western technology. Previously, we covered a story about analyzing a Russian drone captured which is packed with ingredients that appear to have weathered global trade sanctions.
It seems that the parts – especially the avionics and parts – have somehow found their way and are used to build not only drones but also ammunition, communications equipment, flight control systems and other products for military purposes. This reduction in the flow of high-tech goods could help limit Russia’s military capabilities, but the idea doesn’t work best.
