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Foreign Companies Help Guide russian Missiles to Ukraine, - Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

November 25, 2022
Foreign Companies Help Guide russian Missiles to Ukraine, - Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Over the past two weeks, Ukraine is subject to the most extensive shelling during the full-scale war. On November 15, Russia fired about 100 missiles at Ukrainian cities and villages. A residential building was damaged in Kyiv - at least one person died. Due to massive shelling, residents of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and many other cities were wholly or partially left without electricity and water supply.

On November 23, the Ukrainian Air Defenсe Forces shot down 51 of 70 cruise missiles and five kamikaze drones that the russian troops fired over Ukraine. Despite this, russia still caused damage to the energy and civil infrastructure. Most Ukrainian cities were cut off. Russian missiles hit three high-rise buildings, killing ten people.

Mass shelling of Ukraine by russia led not only to the death of people and significant damage to Ukrainian infrastructure but also affected Moldova's power grid, leaving part of the country without electricity.

Russian missiles do not reach their targets without precise coordinates determined by navigation systems, the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. To guide missiles, Russia uses its development of GLONASS, an analogue of GPS. GLONASS was created in 1982 by the order of the Ministry of Defenсe of the USSR. Although GLONASS is a dual-purpose system, it is primarily used by the russian military to target Ukrainian cities.

There is a weak point in the russian navigation system - GLONASS depends on microchips produced by foreign companies. Russian missiles and drones are equipped with foreign-made GLONASS-enabled microchips – usually civilian chips, but the russians use them for military purposes. The chips receive and process coordinates from GLONASS, and the missiles use this information to navigate in space and aim at Ukrainian civil and energy infrastructure.

Many foreign companies continue to produce microchips with GLONASS support to this day:

· Linx Technologies (USA);

· Broadcom (USA);

· Qualcomm (USA);

· Telit (USA);

· Maxim Integrated (USA);

· TRIMBLE (USA);

· Cavli Wireless (USA);

· U-blox AG (Switzerland);

· STMicroelectronics (Switzerland);

· Sierra Wireless (Canada);

· NovAtel (Canada);

· Septentrio (Belgium);

· Antenova (Britain).

russia, in turn, continues to purchase GLONASS-enabled microchips through numerous shell companies and distributors. They are used at least in such weapons as "Orlan-10" and Shahed-136 drones, "Tornado-S" and "Smerch" MLRS, "Iskander", "Kalibr", and "Kinzhal" missiles, as well as aviation and cruise missiles X-101, X-555, X-38, X-59MK, X-31.

Without foreign-made GLONASS-enabled chips, russians will have to build their microelectronics from the ground up. In this case, export control and control by manufacturers will not work because russia is constantly inventing new ways to circumvent sanctions and purchase technologies.

Foreign companies should realise the direct impact of their products on russia's defence capabilities, stop producing chips with GLONASS support and remove the function of supporting this navigation system from all their devices.