The Russian manufacturers of the Oreshnik supermissile used Western equipment

Vladimir Putin’s test “Oreshnik” missile fired at Ukraine last month was made by Russian companies that still rely on advanced Western manufacturing equipment, an FT analysis shows.

Two top Russian weapons engineering institutes, named by Ukrainian intelligence as the developers of the Oreshnik missile, have been advertising for employees familiar with the metalwork, both made by German and Japanese companies.

The locations of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology and Sozvezdy, monitored by the Financial Times, show how dependent the Kremlin’s arsenal is on foreign technology covered by Western sanctions.

The dependence is particularly evident in the field of Computer Numerical Control (CNC), an essential technology for original manufacturing, which allows factories to use computers to control the tools to quickly shape materials with high precision.

Putin used a land-launched missile, and analysts say the RS-26 Rubezh, a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, was tested but not deployed in response to Ukraine’s allies allowing advanced Western weapons. On targets in Russia.

Putin warned after a strike at the Dnipro factory, formerly the Soviet Union’s top-secret rocket-building facility, that “we have a stockpile of such products ready for use.”

MITT, one of the companies Ukraine’s intelligence agency said was involved in Oreshnik, is Russia’s leading facility for the production of solid-fuel ballistic missiles. In the year In 2024 announcements, the company announced, “We will follow FANUC, SIEMENS, HAIDENHEIN systems.”

Fanuc is Japanese and the other two are German. All three companies make control systems for high precision CNC machines.

In the advertisements posted by Sozvezdy, the same three Western companies were named, which listed one of its specialties as “automated control systems and communication systems” for military use. Their posting request is “Knowledge of CNC systems – Fanuc, Siemens, Haidenhain (cc)He said.

A video posted earlier this year by Titan Barricade, the third defense company involved in Oreshnik’s production, also shows an employee with Fanuc’s branding standing in front of a control device.

Despite attempts to build domestic alternatives, Russia has long relied on foreign-made machine tools. While the Kremlin is importing large quantities of precision metalworking machinery from China, the controls to operate them continue to be found in the West.

In the year At a major Russian trade fair in 2024, eight Chinese companies presented 12 CNC machines. According to the analysis of the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, 11 models are equipped with controllers made by Japanese or German companies.

“The development of Oreshnik shows how dependent Russia’s military-industrial complex still is on advanced Western equipment,” said Denis Hutik, executive director at ESCU. Western governments must exert pressure to stem the flow of these goods, which we saw in the Dnipro last month, directly contributing to Russia’s assault on Ukrainian life.

Even job ads show that Stan, the company leading Russia’s efforts to build a domestic CNC manufacturing industry, is using Heidenhain equipment.

Stopping the export of CNC controls and machinery to Russia is a priority for the Kiev partners. CNC tools and components are on the so-called “joint list of high-priority items” that Moscow specifically wants to reject.

“If you can limit these Western CNC control units, you may be able to slow down Russian production,” said Nick Pinkston, CEO of Volition, an industrial parts company, and an expert in automated equipment.

“Some of these high-end control systems allow you to scale down quickly while still maintaining accuracy. If you have to switch to a new control system, you have to adjust the machine’s physical hardware and equipment, and completely overhaul every part, which takes time and money, and can reduce part quality.

While export controls have slowed the flow of these goods to Russia, the FT’s analysis of Russian documents shows that at least $3mn worth of shipments, including Heidenhain components, have entered Russia since early 2024. Some of their buyers entered the military service. Production.

One of the shipments is listed as a system that includes a new Heidenhain TNC640 control unit, which is listed as being ready by 2023. Combine milling, turning and grinding operations.

The part, which cost $345,000, was shipped via China to Baltic Industrial Company, a Russian company subject to US sanctions and a history of supplying CNC machinery to the defense industry.

Diana Kaledina, head of the Baltic Industrial Company, was arrested on charges of fraud in military contracts during Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. She was also accused of importing CNC machines from China and passing them off as Russian-made to qualify for funding.

The case against Kaledina was dropped at the end of 2022 Ombudsman She decided that the lawsuit “could cause undue damage to the Russian machine tool industry” and was “very important to the economy.”

Heidenhain and Baltic did not respond to requests for comment.

Siemens said it would not “negotiate compliance with[sanctions]” and “signs of circumvention . . . and involve necessary and relevant authorities.

Fanuc admits that the machine photographed by Titan Barricade looks like theirs, but it looks old.

“They have enhanced vigilance and controls in our export control process to prevent the transfer of technology or equipment to Russian entities,” he said.

Example of a missile by Cleve Jones