Western Semiconductor Trade and Russian Missile Dependency

Russia's missile attacks rely heavily on Western semiconductors, particularly from Analog Devices.

### The Complex Journey of Western Semiconductors into Russian Missiles
* 🛰 Following the invasion of Ukraine, the US and its European allies imposed strict export controls on Russia to **prevent access to Western semiconductors and technology**.
* 📊 Reports indicated that despite these controls, trade data suggested that some components were still reaching Russia, prompting a **deeper investigation into specific missile attacks**.
* 🔍 Ukrainian investigators documented Western components in missiles, leading to the discovery that **Analog Devices was the most frequently found company** associated with these components on the battlefield.
* 🤖 This highlights Russia's reliance on **Western technology for guiding missile attacks**, emphasizing the **human impact of these trade dynamics**.
* 📉 Analog Devices responded by stating that they view this as an "**illicit diversion**" of their products and do not support such trade practices.
* 🌏 The semiconductor supply chain is complex, with significant production occurring in **Southeast Asia** and many middlemen involved, particularly in **Hong Kong**, complicating enforcement efforts.
* 🔒 The US Commerce Department has struggled to enforce export controls effectively due to the **intricate global nature of semiconductor trading** before reaching Russia.

What we bring to our audience now is the intricacies of what chips made by who are finding their way into certain Russian missiles. Right. So if you remember, after the invasion, the US joined with its European allies and imposed sweeping export controls on Russia to deny the Russian military access to Western semiconductors and other technology. And they tightened those restrictions again starting last year. And there had been various reports about trade, citing trade data about components getting through semiconductors, getting through to Russia. What we wanted to do was really drill down and go do a deep dive on one missile attack where Ukrainian investigators had documented Western components by specific companies, as well as examining their entire database. And what we came up with was that there's one company whose components keep getting found and more are most frequently found on the battlefield, and that is analog devices. And we wanted to sort of put a human face on what was a sort of trade data story to show that actually Russia is

very dependent on Western technology to guide its missiles, missile attacks on Ukraine. Stephanie, what was the response from analog and also, I suppose, from the United States to the reporting? Right. Well, Analog says they regard this as an illicit diversion of their products, and they do not condone any of this trade. And what we try to get into in the story was explaining the complex supply chain for semiconductors, that there's a lot of production happening in Southeast Asia. There are a lot of middlemen acting, particularly through Hong Kong, using shell companies to do this trade. So it's been very hard to crack down. This is not analog selling directly to Russia, and the US has tried to enforce these export controls through the Commerce Department. That has proven difficult just because of the global nature of the supply chain and the many layers that semiconductors get traded through before actually reaching Russia.

US Tech Used in Russian Missiles

Welcome to the Bloomberg Technology YouTube channel. Subscribe for original series and mini-docs on game-changing technologies, profiles on innovators, live conversations with experts, and breaking technology news & analysis from Bloomberg TV.

Bloomberg Technology

Western export controls on Russia have been tightened since the invasion, yet reports show that semiconductors are still getting through.

A deep dive into a specific missile attack revealed that components from one company, analog devices, are most frequently found on the battlefield.

The investigation aimed to humanize the trade data story and highlight the ongoing impact of these components in the conflict.

Illicit Diversion of Western Technology for Missile Attacks

Analog has condemned the illicit diversion of their products for missile guidance, highlighting the complex semiconductor supply chain involving production in Southeast Asia and middlemen in Hong Kong.

The US has struggled to enforce export controls due to the global nature of the supply chain and the multiple layers of trade.

Cracking down on this trade has proven difficult, as Analog is not selling directly to Russia.