75% of microchips out of 290 examined in the North Korean missile, with which the Russian Federation hit Kharkiv on January 2, 2024, have markings of US companies.
This is evidenced by the results of the research of the analytical center Conflict Armament Research.
According to the study, another 16% of microchips - the production of the EU, including 11.9% from Germany. And Asia accounts for just 9%, China 2% and Japan 3.1%. Meanwhile, not a single chip from companies from South Korea was recorded.
75% of all chips were produced between 2021 and 2023, and the missile itself, considering the manufacturing dates of the electronics, could not have been assembled earlier than March 2023, which demonstrates the absolute helplessness of sanctions that should prevent North Korea from building ballistic missiles.
"The presence of a large share of newly manufactured electronic components in a North Korean ballistic missile strongly suggests that the country has developed a robust procurement network capable of bypassing the sanctions regime that lasted for almost two decades without being detected," the analysts say.
We are talking about civilian electronics that are not subject to existing export control mechanisms. At the same time, the quality and reliability of missile guidance systems assembled in the DPRK may remain quite low.
Earlier, we reported that Russia, despite Western sanctions, was able to purchase microchips for the production of military equipment and weapons for more than $1 billion in 2023.