Russia continues to fire precision-guided missiles at civilian and military targets in Ukraine. Therefore, Ukrainian intelligence officers, together with private analysts, collected parts left over from Russian weapons in order to find out enemy secrets..

We are talking about weapons that are considered the best in the Russian arsenal.. And as it turns out, they contain technically very backward components, say the analysts who studied them.. In particular, this applies to the basic satellite navigation system, which was also found in other Russian ammunition, writes the New York Times..

The conclusions of analysts who have studied Russian weapons are described in a report by the independent British group Conflict Armament Research.. The document was published on Saturday. The group's experts are trying to identify and track weapons and ammunition used in wars around the world.. They studied Russian samples in July at the invitation of the Ukrainian government..

The report refutes Moscow's narrative that it was able to rebuild the army and make it capable of facing the armies of enemies in the West again.. The document also found that the weapons used by Russia to destroy Ukrainian cities and towns are often based on Western innovations.. Although the sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 should have prevented this by stopping the supply of high-tech developments necessary to expand the Russian military capabilities.

“We found that Russia is reusing the same electronic components in a variety of weapons, including the latest cruise missiles and attack helicopters.. And we didn't expect to see something like this. Russian guided missiles are filled with non-Russian technologies and components. And most of the computer chips that we recorded were made in Western countries after 2014,” said Conflict Armament Research expert Damien Spleeters..

[see_also ids\u003d"

It is not clear exactly how Russia obtained all these details.. Spliters asks semiconductor makers how their goods ended up inside Russian weapons: through legitimate purchases or through intermediaries who helped Moscow bypass sanctions. Experts at Conflict Armament Research analyzed what was left of three types of Russian cruise missiles, including the Kh-101 and Tornado-S, which are considered the latest and most advanced Russian developments.. They all contained identical parts, designated SN-99.. The study showed that this is a satellite navigation system receiver. It plays a critical role in the operation of rockets.

Spleeters explains that the very fact of reusing the same component in different types of weapons speaks to Russia's very limited supply chains.. Therefore, simply blocking the flow of SN-99 would significantly slow down Moscow's ability to replenish its stock of guided missiles..

“In order to establish effective control and ensure that certain things do not fall into Russian hands, you first need to know what Russia needs and how it uses these details.. Then it is important to find out how he receives them, through which networks? Who are its suppliers? "

Experts also found a serious dependence of Russian engineers on semiconductors, which are produced by specific companies in the West.. And these components are used not only in ammunition, but also in reconnaissance drones, communications systems, helicopter avionics and other military means..

“Russia keeps going back to the same manufacturers. Once you figure this out, it becomes easier to suppress these networks.. Looking at computer chips in the same position on different printed circuit boards, you can see that they were made by the same companies.. Production dates may vary, but the manufacturer is always the same,” Spleeters said..

[see_also ids\u003d"

The Conflict Armament Research report also noted stark differences between Russia's advanced weapons and those Ukraine receives from the US.. Warring parties often examine each other's captured military equipment for reconnaissance purposes.. But analysts say they were shocked by Russia's apparent indifference that its weapons could be researched and copied..

“The level of Russian technology is the end of the 1990s or the middle of the 2000s at best. In fact, this is the equivalent of the Xbox 360 game console.. Everything seems completely open to anyone who would like to take apart and build their own copies of these technologies,” said NASA contractor Arsenio Menendez after evaluating photos of Russian weapons debris.. He is copying guided weapons as a hobby..

The US Department of Defense has set standards that defense contractors must meet to make it harder for hostile nations to build their own versions of captured weapons.. To protect what the Pentagon calls " Most data on US Department of Defense standards are classified.

“You can build a trap around a computer chip that, if tampered with, will delete all content,” Menendez explained, adding that such protections are used in consumer technologies, such as bank card readers, to protect transactions from fraud and theft of funds.. The Russian navigation system resembles the open architecture of GPS receivers. Menendez said such components are not subject to federal restrictions like defense-grade items..

[see_also ids\u003d"

“A company of engineers from an electronics college can build this,” Menendez explained..

He also pointed to the " This may explain why Russian cruise missiles are not so accurate.. Errors in non-standard GPS components in processing satellite signals can cause a cruise missile to strike very far from its target. According to Menendez, the Russian approach to weapons electronics is: “If you can’t develop everything yourself, steal the technology and try to make what you can out of it.”.