According to the report, the North Korean missile launched by Russia contained American electronics

A North Korean ballistic missile that was launched by Russia into Ukraine contained numerous electronic components sourced from the US and Europe, according to a new report from Conflict Armament Research (CAR), a UK-based research organization.

Approximately 75% of the 290 components analyzed in the missile came from US-based companies, and an additional 16% of the components came from European companies. seconds in the CAR report. The US government and intelligence agencies are working stop sensitive American intellectual property ends up in the hands of various foreign adversaries.

CAR documents “weapons at the point of use and traces their sources through supply chains.”

The fact that North Korea has been able to acquire so many parts of US electronic components suggests “that the country has developed a robust acquisition network capable of circumventing, without detection, the sanctions regimes in place for nearly two decades,” according to the report .

A @conflictarm The field research team recently documented the electronic components of a North Korean ballistic missile recovered in Ukraine on January 2, 2024. CAR researchers documented more than 290 components, most of which were found in the system of missile navigation.🧵 (1/6) pic.twitter.com/WxsedC18K6

— CAR (@conflictarm) February 20, 2024

According to the report, the electronic components, which came from a total of 26 countries, were largely used in the missile's navigation system. It is not clear how the components ended up in North Korea's possession, as the country is heavily sanctioned by much of the international community, but it is possible that other foreign companies, acting as intermediaries, bought the components and then have diverted them to the communist. country

According to the report, North Korea gathered the components, assembled the missile and shipped it to Russia, all in a relatively short period of time. The missile was recovered by CAR on January 2 and investigators determined that it could not have been manufactured before March 2023.

Russia has it was looking to countries like North Korea and Iran for help, after facing sanctions from the international community and spending hundreds of billions of dollars on military equipment in its stalled fight against Ukraine. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin have done so reinforced their relationship since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“Due in part to our export controls and sanctions, Russia has become increasingly isolated on the world stage and has been forced to look to like-minded states for military equipment,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House. said during a press conference in January. “One of those states is North Korea.”

The US is trying stop American electronics from being diverted to foreign adversaries for military purposes. CAR previously discovered that Iranian missiles fired by Russia also contained a large amount of American electronic components.

The White House NSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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