The experimental Oreshnik missile that Vladimir Putin launched into Ukraine last month was made by Russian companies that still rely on advanced Western manufacturing equipment, according to a Financial Times analysis.
Two of Russia's largest arms engineering institutes, named as developers of the Oreshnik missile by Ukrainian intelligence, have advertised for workers familiar with metalworking systems made by German and Japanese companies.
The vacancies for the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology and Sozvezdie, tracked by the Financial Times, illustrate how the Kremlin's war machine remains critically dependent on foreign technology covered by Western sanctions.
The reliance is particularly evident in the field of computer numerical control (CNC), a technology vital to Oreshnik production that allows factories to shape materials quickly and with high precision using computers to control the tools.
Putin described the use of the ground-launched missile, which analysts said is based on the RS-26 Rubezh, a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that has been tested but not deployed, as a response to Ukraine's allies who have allowed the use of advanced Western weapons. Against targets inside Russia.
“We have a stock of such products, a stock of such systems that are ready for use,” Putin warned after the attack on a factory in Dnipro, which was previously a top-secret Soviet missile-building facility.
MITT, one of the companies that Ukrainian intelligence said was involved in Oreshnik, is the leading developer of Russian solid-fuel ballistic missiles. In announcements published in 2024, the company indicates that “we comply with FANUC, SIEMENS and HAIDENHEIN systems.”
Fanuc is Japanese, while the other two are German. All three companies manufacture control systems for high-precision CNC machines.
The names of the same three Western companies were mentioned in advertisements published by Sozvezdie, which listed one of its specialties as “automatic control and communications systems” for military use. Their deployment requires “knowledge of CNC systems – Fanuc, Siemens, Haidenhain (sic)“.
A video posted by Titan Barrikady, a third defense company involved in Oreshnik production, earlier this year shows a worker standing in front of a Fanuc-branded controller.
Russia has long relied on foreign-made machine tools, despite efforts to build domestic alternatives. While the Kremlin has been importing large quantities of high-precision metalworking machines from China, controls for their operation still come from the West.
In 2024, at a major Russian trade fair, eight Chinese companies presented 12 models of CNC machines. According to an analysis by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, 11 of the models are equipped with control units made by Japanese or German companies.
“The development of Oreshnik shows how dependent the Russian military-industrial complex is on advanced Western equipment,” said Denis Hotek, Executive Director at ESCU. “Western governments must push to stop the flow of these goods, which we saw last month in Dnipro directly contribute to the Russian attack on Ukrainian life.” .
Job advertisements show that Stan, which is leading Russian attempts to build a domestic CNC production industry, is using Heidenhain equipment.
Stopping the flow of CNC controllers and machines to Russia has been a priority for Kyiv's allies. CNC machines and components are on the so-called “high-priority common goods list” of items they would particularly like to reject to Moscow.
“If you can restrict access to these Western CNC controllers, you may be able to slow down Russian production,” said Nick Pinkston, CEO of Volition, an industrial parts company, and an expert on machine tools.
“Some of these advanced control systems allow you to cut faster while maintaining accuracy. If you have to switch to a new control system, you will have to reconfigure the hardware and physical tools of the machine, as well as completely reprogram each part, which will cost time and money, and can It reduces the quality of the part as well.
While export controls have slowed the flow of these goods into Russia, a Financial Times analysis of Russian files suggests at least $3 million in shipments, which include Heidenhein components, have flowed into Russia since the start of 2024. Some buyers are involved. Strong in military affairs. production.
One shipment was listed as being for a system that included a new Heidenhain TNC640 controller, listed as having been produced in 2023. According to Heidenhain’s website, the TNC640 “defines the cutting-edge spectrum of control technology in its field” and “enables combined milling, turning and milling operations.”
Priced at $345,000, the unit was shipped via China to Baltic Industrial Company, a Russian company sanctioned by the United States with a history of supplying CNC machines to the defense industry.
Diana Kalidina, head of Baltic Industrial, was arrested during Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine over accusations of fraud in a military contract. It has been accused of importing CNC machines from China and then presenting them as Russian-made in order to be eligible for financing.
The case against Caledina was subsequently dropped in late 2022 Ombudsman It ruled that its prosecution “could cause undue harm to the Russian machine tool industry,” which was “critically important to the economy.”
Heidenhain and Baltic did not respond to requests for comment.
Siemens said it “does not waive compliance (with the sanctions)” and is investigating “any indications of fraud… and engaging the necessary and relevant parties.”
Fanuc admitted that the machine depicted in Titan Barricade looked like their own, but noted that it looked old.
They said they had “strengthened vigilance and controls in our export control operations to prevent potential diversion of technology or equipment to Russian entities.”
Illustration of the missile by Cleve Jones
