“Russian makers of Oreshnik missile rely on Western equipment – FT Vladimir Putin’s experimental Oreshnik missile launched against Ukraine last month was manufactured by Russian companies that still rely on modern Western manufacturing equipment.”, — write on: unn.ua
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Two leading Russian military engineering institutes, named by Ukrainian intelligence as the developers of the Oreshnyk missile, are said to be advertising for workers familiar with metalworking systems produced by German and Japanese companies.
The vacancies at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering and Sozvezdie, tracked by the Financial Times, illustrate how the Kremlin’s war machine remains critically dependent on foreign technology subject to Western sanctions.
“The dependence is particularly pronounced in the field of computer numerical control (CNC), a technology vital to the production of Oreshnyk, which allows factories to quickly form materials with high precision, using computers to control the tools,” the publication writes.
MITT, one of the companies that Ukrainian intelligence says had ties to Oreshnyk, is a leading Russian solid-fuel ballistic missile development agency. In an advertisement posted in 2024, the company notes that “we adhere to FANUC, SIEMENS, HAIDENHEIN systems.”
Fanuc is a Japanese company, and the other two are German. All three companies produce control systems for high-precision CNC machines, the publication indicates.
“The same three Western companies are named in advertisements posted by Sozvezdiye, which lists one of its specialties as “automated control and communication systems” for military use. The publication includes a request for “knowledge of CNC systems – Fanuc, Siemens , Haidenhain [sic]”, the publication reads.
A video released earlier this year by Titan Barrikady, the third defense company involved in the production of the Hazelnut, also shows a worker standing in front of a control device bearing the Fanuc brand.
“For a long time, Russia relied on foreign-made machines, despite attempts to create domestic alternatives. While the Kremlin bought large volumes of high-precision metalworking equipment from China, control elements for its work were still purchased in the West,” the publication notes.
Denis Gutik, executive director of ESCU, said: “The development of Oreshnyk shows how dependent the Russian military-industrial complex still is on high-end Western equipment. Western governments must insist on stemming the flow of these goods, which, as we saw last month in the Dnipro, directly contribute to the Russian attack on Ukrainian life.”
“Although export controls have slowed the flow of these goods to Russia, an FT analysis of Russian bids shows that at least $3 million in supplies, including Heidenhain components, have arrived in Russia since the beginning of 2024. Some of their buyers are deeply involved in military production,” the publication said. .
One of the shipments was reportedly “listed as a system that included a new Heidenhain TNC640 control unit manufactured in 2023.” According to Heidenhain’s website, the TNC640 “defines the high-tech range of control technologies in its industry” and “enables combined milling, turning and grinding operations.”
“The $345,000 device was shipped via China to the Baltic Industrial Company, a Russian company under US sanctions that has a history of supplying CNC machines to the defense industry,” the paper writes.
Heidenhain and Baltic did not respond to requests for comment, as indicated.
Siemens said they “do not compromise on compliance [санкцій]” and investigate “any indication of circumvention” … and involve the necessary and appropriate authorities.”
Fanuc acknowledged that the machine pictured on the Titan Barrikady must be theirs, but noted that it must be old.
They said they had “increased vigilance and controls in our export control processes to prevent the potential diversion of technology or equipment to Russian entities.”
The “newest” Russian rocket “Oreshnyk” turned out to be a 7-year-old developmentDecember 23 2024, 22:28 • 65209 views