Swiss chip from electric bicycle found in Russian Orlan-10 drone
Despite the sanctions imposed on Russia, it continues to receive technology from Switzerland. This is evidenced by the results of an investigation conducted by RSI journalists. Customs data show that the supply chain stretches from Turkey and China.
Not long ago, a chip manufactured by U-blox was found in a Russian Orlan-10 drone shot down in Donbas. The company is headquartered in Zurich. The initiators of the investigation call U-blox one of the world leaders in the medical and automotive industries. They asked representatives of the Swiss company to comment on the discovery of the chip in the Russian drone. U-blox claims that the company does not supply microelectronics to Russia.
Stefan Zizala, who is the head of U-blox, suggested that the Russians could extract chips from commercial products such as electric bicycles or cars. The company cannot prevent this.
Customs data show that U-blox GPS/GLONASS modules were shipped to Russia between 05/26/22 and 09/28/22 by five companies from China. In total, they made 14 deliveries of “non-military” products worth $90,000. The buyer of the modules was a commercial entity called SMT I-Logic, affiliated with the Special Technology Center. The latter is a manufacturer of Orlan-10 drones.
