Evidence of rudimentary Russian chip manufacturing operations surfaces

Russia may be able to manufacture its own semiconductors for weaponry, according to a report in Trouw (link in Dutch). There’s little direct evidence, but the Dutch newspaper has uncovered that Russia has been employing middlemen to import spare parts for legacy ASML lithography tools from China, suggesting it has one or more active semiconductor production lines.

It’s been widely reported that the Russian war machine is sorely lacking microchips. Although Western sanctions aren’t watertight and ICs have been known to find their way into Russia, domestic manufacturing operations would ensure better security of supply. Most military-use chips are made in mature process technologies, which should be within Russia’s reach. Recently, pictures of apparently Russian-made chips have emerged on social media, while before, old Soviet or repurposed Western chips were often found in Russian drones and missiles.

Customs documentation shows that since the start of the Ukranian invasion, Russia has been importing at least 170 parts for ASML’s PAS5500 stepper, a model that was introduced over three decades ago. ASML still supplies parts for the PAS5500 and has refurbished systems on offer but obviously only deals with legitimate customers and never Russian ones.

“We discuss orders with customers and ask them to prove that spare parts orders are legitimate. We ask questions about the orders, their size and other relevant details if necessary,” an ASML spokesperson told Trouw.