The missile "Oreshnik", which the Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin so brags about, was produced by Russian companies using advanced Western production equipment, experts say, writes faktor.bg.
Two leading Russian weapons technology institutes, named by Ukrainian intelligence as the developers of the "Oreshnik" missile, have published advertisements for employees familiar with metalworking systems of German and Japanese companies, according to an analysis by the Financial Times.
The media notes that the Russian military industry "to a significant extent" depends on foreign technologies on which Western sanctions have been imposed - especially in the field of computer numerical control (CNC). This is evident, for example, from the advertisements of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MITT) and the company “Sozvezdie“. CNC technology is “vital“ for the production of “Oreshnik“, as it allows factories to give materials high precision with the help of computers.
MITT is one of the companies involved in the development of “Oreshnik“, being the leading institution for the development of Russian solid-fuel ballistic missiles.
“In the advertisements published in 2024, the company states that “we work with FANUC, SIEMENS, HEIDENHAIN systems“. FANUC is a Japanese company, and the other two are German. "They all produce control systems for high-precision CNC machines," the article says.
The same companies appear in advertisements for "Sozvezdie," which specializes, among other things, in "automated control and communication systems" for military needs.
"Titan-Barricade" is the third defense enterprise associated with "Oreshnik" to have used FANUC systems.
ESKU CEO Denis Gutik says: "The development of "Oreshnik" shows how heavily the Russian military-industrial complex still depends on high-end Western equipment." Western governments should insist on an end to the supply of these technologies“.
Although export controls have slowed the supply of these technologies to Russia, an analysis of Russian documents allows the Financial Times to assume that since the beginning of 2024, deliveries worth at least $3 million have arrived in Russia, including Heidenhain components. Some of the buyers of these components are “closely linked to the military industry“.
One of the deliveries includes a system with the new Heidenhain TNC640 control unit, launched in 2023, which “sets high standards in control technology“ and “allows combined milling, turning and grinding operations“.
The machine costs $345,000 and was shipped via China to the Baltic Industrial Company – a Russian enterprise that is under US sanctions and has experience in supplying CNC equipment to the defense industry, the media reports.