Russia’s S-70 Hunter Flying Wing Drone Downed in Ukraine Packed with Western Components
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) claims it has found dozens of Western-made components in the Russian S-70 Okhotnik-B (Hunter-B) flying wing unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) downed last month in a case of friendly fire.
“The aggressor state, despite sanctions, used components manufactured by Western companies to create this weapon,” GUR said on Telegram Friday. “In particular, microelectronics and other technological components manufactured by the companies Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and Xilinx-AMD (USA), Infineon Technologies (Germany), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland) were found in the Russian S-70 Hunter.”
GUR found components from several other companies as well.
The S-70 is a heavy-weight strike and reconnaissance tactical drone with some low observable (stealthy) features. It can also partake in air-to-air as well as air-to-ground combat and reconnaissance duties. Independent operations and those paired with other aircraft, both manned and unmanned, are envisioned for its type. GUR said the drone that went down in Ukraine was the fourth S-70 prototype.
The directorate, which maintains a database of thousands of foreign components found in Russian weapons, published a list of 30 found in the S-70. Among them was a motor driver with a built-in current sensor made by Maxim Integrated Products, a transistor made by Infineon Technologies, a microprocessor made by Xilinx Inc, a power module made by Texas Instruments, an isolator made by Analog Devices and a microprocessor made by STMicroelectronics. Dozens of other components from these and several other companies were found as well.
Russian weapons “depend on foreign components,” GUR stated on its database. “Without them, they cannot continue to fight, occupy and kill.”
All told, GUR said it has found more than 4,000 foriegn components in nearly 150 captured or recovered Russian weapons. The discovery of those in the S-70 marks the latest example of how Russia is evading sanctions placed on it after launching its all-out war on Ukraine.
The origin of the components on the S-70 is unclear and GUR provided no further information about how they were obtained by Russia. These would not necessarily have to be sourced directly from the manufacturers, however. Also, there is a massive and largely unregulated market for recycled chips, largely emanating from China. In addition, many components are found in appliances and other non-military items. While those are harder to prevent from falling into the wrong hands, U.S. officials have the authority to prevent shipments of those dual-use chips if they consider the application to have critical military uses.
To help stem the flow of military technology to Russia, U.S. government agencies have issued sanctions against hundreds of companies around the world that provide Russia with technology.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 275 individuals and entities “involved in supplying Russia with advanced technology and equipment that it desperately needs to support its war machine,” the department said in a media release. The
“action targets both individual actors and sprawling sanctions evasion networks across 17 jurisdictions, including India, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Switzerland, Thailand, and Türkiye. In addition to disrupting global evasion networks, this action also targets domestic Russian importers and producers of key inputs and other materiel for Russia’s military-industrial base.”
There is no indication, however, that any of the chips in the S-70 violated any provisions. Moreover, the UCAV had been in development for years before sanctions were imposed on Russia.
As we previously noted, the S-70 downed over Ukrainian territory appears to be one of the earlier examples, which first emerged in early 2019, or one built to a similar specification with significantly lower sophistication than a more refined variant with enhanced low-observable (stealth) features rolled out in 2021.
After the S-70 was discovered, we pointed out that its wreckage “may represent the most enticing foreign material exploitation (FME) opportunity of the conflict, and there have been many of them so far.”
While not a find of any new technology, this announcement by GUR about the components highlights the importance of such efforts.
Source: The War Zone
