US chipmakers testify before Senate on why their products are found in Russian missiles
12 September 2024
US senators talked to leading microelectronics companies about why American chips and electronics are found in Russian weapons seized on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The discovery of American-made microelectronics in Russian weapons seized in Ukraine raises alarming questions about the effectiveness of US sanctions and export controls. Despite efforts to prevent it, US technology is inadvertently fueling Russia’s war machine. The situation underscores the urgent need for stricter oversight of global supply chains and reveals the complex challenges in preventing the diversion of dual-use technologies to adversaries.
As reported by the Voice of America, Vice presidents of AMD, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, and Intel Corporation testified at the hearing “US Technologies Powering Russia’s War Machine” in the US Senate on 10 September.
Senator Richard Blumenthal chaired the hearing and spoke about documents handed over to him by the Ukrainian authorities, which contain data on nearly 25,000 components recovered from Russian weapons on the battlefield.
“The vast majority of this – 73% – comes from American companies. As we found out, 1,005 – 40% – come from your companies,” Blumenthal addressed the witnesses...
Representatives of the companies emphasized that they comply with the sanctions and take precautions on their own initiative, even if it is not required by law, to prevent their goods from ending up in Russian weapons.
In addition, representatives of the companies indicated that most of the components that they reportedly found on the battlefield in Ukraine were basic microchips that were not subject to export restrictions and were produced before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine...