A North Korean ballistic missile fired last month by the Russian military in Ukraine contained hundreds of components that trace back to companies in the US and Europe, according to a new report.
The findings mark the first public identification of North Korea’s reliance on foreign technology for its missile program and underscore the persistent problem facing the Biden administration as it tries to keep cheap, Western-made microelectronics intended for civilian use from winding up in weapons used by North Korea, Iran and Russia.
The UK-based investigative organization Conflict Armament Research, or CAR, directly examined 290 components from remnants of a North Korean ballistic missile recovered in January from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and found that 75% of the components were designed and sold by companies incorporated in the United States, according to the report shared first with CNN.
NK is sitting on stockpiles of ammo that works with old Soviet hardware. It’s not that old. It’s more recently produced. It just works with those system.
Russia has lost so much equipment they’re back to using that hardware. Including tanks like the T55. T54/T55s entered production in the early 1950s. Were made for about 30 years with slight variations through.
Pretty easy deal for NK to make. With certainly some benefit coming back to them from Pootin in the trade.