The Russians “can’t” miniaturize electronic systems. The problem is poor work culture and workmanship, which takes its toll much faster in the case of delicate products than in the case of clunky mechanical devices. That’s why their missiles are Russian in name only. And they will continue to fall on Ukrainian cities as long as the West fails to tighten the sanctions regime.
Russia acquires missiles from neighboring countries / Ignacio Marin/ANADOLU / AFP
Shooting a mortar doesn’t seem complicated. Just slide the bullet into the pipe. The mortar is a top-loading weapon, so when the grenade is dropped into the barrel, it slides down and hits the firing pin with the primer. This creates a flame that ignites the powder contained in the bullet’s main charge. Then the additional charges ignite and the gas pressure created throws the grenade out of the barrel . Can anything go wrong?
Yes, it can, as Russian artillerymen regularly discover .
War in Ukraine. “Tactical ineptitude”. The Russians have a problem with weapons
A dozen or so days ago, a video illustrating one of the nightmares of Putin’s army surfaced online . The opening shot shows the loading of the aforementioned grenade. We wait for the gunshot, but it doesn’t come. Two servicemen grab the mortar, tilt the barrel, and the bad bullet falls to the ground . And so three times, preceded by earlier attempts, because we see many more unexploded bombs put aside on the tarpaulin. The material ends with the conclusion that North Korean ammunition is useless. ” This is the kind of shit we have to fight here, ” complains one of the military bloggers sharing the video.
Ukrainian “maximum program” for 2024? Maintain the status quo on the front
In late summer 2022, American media reported that Moscow would like to buy artillery ammunition from North Korea and Iran . At the time, the move seemed incomprehensible. Before February 24, 2022, Russian artillery ammunition resources were estimated at at least 15 million pieces, and production capacity at 1.5 million per year. ” It would be enough not only for Ukraine, ” predicted analysts who underestimated the incompetence and tactical incompetence of the Russians.
Already in the spring of 2022, Putin’s generals gave up on the Western-style war – which they were unable to wage – and returned to Soviet patterns. “Artillery roller” – spewing out up to 60,000 a day. missiles – was supposed to break the Ukrainian defense. It did not break, and when in the fall of 2022 shells from deep warehouses in Russia began to reach the front, a large part of them – due to previous many years of storage in terrible conditions – was of no use. The multi-million dollar supply turned out to be apparent wealth , hence the need to turn to the Federation’s allies.
Full-scale war. North Korea “helps” Russia with weak missiles
But the allies, at least the Korean ones, sent Russia an even worse quality product . So far, the Russians have received at least one million artillery shells from the Koreans. The independent website Moscow Times reports that due to the poor quality of the gunpowder, “Kim-ammunition” is used only in situations where “the precision of the bullet, and even just firing it from the barrel, is of the least importance” for combat operations. In other words, when you shoot “for the sake of it” and to meet standards. Especially since the real range of Korean missiles is almost twice smaller than that of ammunition produced in Russia.
It is also worth mentioning another “gift” from Kim Jong Un – short-range ballistic missiles. A few weeks ago, the Russians fired them at Kharkov. We don’t know anything about unexploded bombs, but judging by the places where the rockets fell (very accidental), their precision leaves much to be desired . Unfortunately, we are talking about weapons used to destroy objects located in urban areas, which means that even though they are defective, they still cause harm – mainly to civilians.
It’s cheap and crazy on the front. Poland should prepare
It is for this purpose, and in this case quite consciously, that Muscovites use a weapons system from another ally – Iran. But Shahid drones are not only designed to attack residential buildings and terrorize civilians. Sent over Ukraine in waves – a dozen to several dozen pieces – they are also intended to absorb the attention and means of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, “tiring it out” before strikes using cruise missiles .
Let’s add to this list commercial drones, purchased en masse by Russians in China, then converted for military purposes (usually by adding an explosive charge). This gives us a full view of the pro-Russian axis of evil, although for the sake of accuracy it is worth noting that Ukrainians (and pro-Ukrainian volunteers) also buy Chinese drones, and Beijing does not formally provide military support to Moscow .
Ukraine-Russia. Weapons taken from other countries. “They can’t miniaturize”
But Russia also draws from other sources – those that are openly unfavorable to it. In June 2022, there were reports of Western components found, among others, in radio stations, drones, tanks, air defense systems and remnants of cruise missiles. Most of them came from the USA, so the local FBI initiated an investigation to determine whether the parts reached Russia before 2014 – when the first sanctions against Moscow began to be introduced – or after that date, especially after the outbreak of a full-scale war . We do not know the exact findings of the investigation, but we know that it resulted in recommendations to tighten the sanctions regime.
Shoigu was furious at the pace of production. “Stop fooling around”
Let us recall that, starting with the annexation of Crimea and Donbas, almost 18,000 sanctions were imposed on the Russian Federation. restrictions. Russia has thus become the country most affected by sanctions in the world. The course of action is absolutely justified, especially in the area of military technologies. The Russians “can’t” miniaturize electronic systems, the problem is still low work culture and workmanship, which takes its toll much faster in the case of delicate products than in the case of clunky mechanical devices. When Ukrainian engineers examined the remains of Kh-101 missiles in 2022, they saw electronics from the 1970s. The latest was the PGI-2M navigation system, developed in 1977 – analog and unreliable. In this situation, it is not surprising that most of the Kh-101 missiles fired at targets in Ukraine missed .
Western parts in Russian missiles. The Sanctions Coordinator confirms
But Moscow was not willing to give in to inaction. Aware that there would be no progress without Western input, it began to look for legal loopholes and transport corridors that would enable it to circumvent export restrictions and corporate bans . Effect? The latest batches of missiles are less and less “Russian”. The remains and wrecks of rockets (rockets that fell on Ukrainian territory but did not explode) are full of western parts . The examined Ch-101s contained 53 electronic components manufactured by foreign companies, mainly microcircuits and chips. There are 45 “foreign” electronic components in the Kalibres launched from ships. In hypersonic Daggers – 48. All of them critical. 81 percent of them came from the USA, 8%. from Switzerland, 3.5% each from Germany and Japan.
Il-76 plane crash. Putin pointed out the culprit
– We are aware that parts manufactured in our country go to Russia – admitted the sanctions coordinator at the US Department of State, Jim O’Brien, during a press conference. – European companies sell these materials to other countries, which then resell them to Russia.
Intermediaries usually come from China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. To thwart their plans, in December 2023, Joe Biden signed a regulation enabling the introduction of sanctions against banks from third countries involved in the sale of banned materials to the Russian arms industry. Time will tell whether the secondary sanctions mechanism will work.
