Russia Increased Share of Domestic Components in Kalibr Missiles

25 January, 2025 Kalibr cruise missile. Photo credits: Russian media Russia is increasing the share of domestically produced components in Kalibr cruise missiles.

This was reported by The Economist. Journalists visited the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, where they were able to get acquainted with the analysis of Russian missile parts. Thus, among the components that were dismantled from a downed Kalibr missile, many well-known brands such as AMD, Sony, Bosch were found, which are used by the enemy for the functioning of cruise missiles.

US-made components in the Kalibr cruise missile.

Photo credits: https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/

Although the components use the names of well-known companies, some of them are made by Chinese manufacturers and are mistakenly labeled with American and European brands. Nevertheless, according to Anatolii, since the beginning of 2022, there has been an increase in the use of Russian parts, including components in the form of "brains" produced in Russia. "At the beginning of the war, the Kalibr, one of the most destructive Russian cruise missiles, used mostly Western electronic components. Today, most of what researchers call the Kalibr's "brains" come from Russia," the publication notes.

At the same time, the shortage of certain components is being made up for by China, which supplies Russia with the components needed for missile weapons through hundreds of front companies. Despite the sanctions, the Russian government and interested businesses are finding ways to circumvent the sanctions through China, as well as through European and North American countries.

A downed Kalibr cruise missile. Dnipro region, September 2022.

Photo credits: Ukrainian Air Force

In order to export certain components to Russia, the Chinese side is also forging documents and creating fake names for existing Western and Asian companies. For example, recently, Chinese companies supplying servos for planning modules for the UMPC and Shahed UAVs to Russia illegally used the name of the Taiwanese company TRC to avoid sanctions. The investigation revealed that although the name of the Taiwanese company appears in the procurement documents, the real TRC company is not related to these spare parts.

The real manufacturer of the servos was the Chinese company KST Digital Technology Limited. The civic activist notes that experts have never seen such a complex scheme of double rebranding. However, it is already known that it was applied to other critical components for the Russian defense industry.

In particular, using the TRC brand.