Russia receives Western components for electronic warfare through Chinese intermediaries - Insider. INFOGRAPHICS
Despite the sanctions, Russia continues to receive spectrum analysers and signal generators manufactured by US, German and Swiss companies. These components are used to develop and configure electronic intelligence and warfare (ELINT/EW) devices. They are supplied to Russia through Chinese intermediaries.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by The Insider.
The United States imposed a ban on the export of signal generators to Russia in February 2023, and on spectrum analysers in May of the same year. The European Union joined the sanctions, banning the export of signal generators from 24 June 2023 and spectrum analysers from 19 December 2023.
The journalists, having studied customs data, found that in 2023, Russia received spectrum generators and analysers from the American company Keysight, the German company Rohde & Schwarz, and the Swiss company AnaPico for a total of $38 million, and in 2024 - for another $12 million. The average cost of one device is about $43,000.
Among the main buyers of equipment in 2023 were such companies as Dipole Research and Production Company, Scientific Instruments and Systems, Gradient, Mikropribor and Infostera. According to SPARK-Interfax, these companies have significant turnover (up to billions of rubles per year), but their main assets are virtually non-existent, which indicates that they are export-import companies.
The market leader in 2023 was Dipole, which operated through Chinese intermediaries. Almost half of the supplies in 2023 were provided by Tyranhe Technology, a Chinese company that has neither a website nor a phone number. Between January and May 2024, Dipole purchased equipment from Rohde & Schwarz and Keysight Technologies for $2.9 million.
According to public procurement data, Dipole has previously been active in fulfilling government orders, including for the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, "Russian Space Systems" and defence institutions.
In 2024, RM-Invest, a company that used to supply medical equipment, became the leader in imports. It made two large purchases of Keysight spectrum generators and analysers through Hong Kong-based C-R Kesha Trading & Logistics. Kazan Plant of Radio Measuring Equipment was the third in the market, purchasing AnaPico analysers and Rohde & Schwarz generators.
According to The Insider, citing military expert Leonid Dmitriev, Western equipment is used to upgrade Russia's electronic intelligence satellites, as well as in EW/ELINT systems that monitor and influence wireless networks and navigation systems, allowing them to replace mobile phone base stations and influence satellite navigation.
