From: imbibe@mindspring.com   
      
   Ukrainian Analysis Identifies Western Supply Chain Behind Iran’s Drones   
   By Ian Talley, Nov. 16, 2022, WSJ   
      
   New intelligence collected from downed Iranian drones in Ukraine shows that a   
   majority of the aircrafts’ parts are manufactured by companies in the U.S.,   
   Europe and other allied nations, stoking concern among Western officials and   
   analysts and    
   prompting a U.S. government investigation, according to people familiar with   
   the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.   
      
   The documentation of Western parts shows how Tehran has been arming itself and   
   its allies with powerful new weaponry despite being the target of one of the   
   most comprehensive sanction regimes in modern history.   
      
   Ukrainian intelligence estimates that 3/4 of the components of the Iranian   
   drones downed in Ukraine are American-made, according to documents reviewed by   
   the Journal. The findings were made after the Ukrainian military downed   
   several drones, including an    
   Iranian Mohajer-6 drone that agents hacked midflight and landed intact,   
   according to Ukrainian investigators.   
      
   The components, identified by Ukrainian military intelligence, were verified   
   by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, or NAKO, a Kyiv-based nonprofit   
   that inspected the drone. NAKO, whose expertise includes assessing military   
   contracts and arms,    
   showed its report to The Wall Street Journal.   
      
   Out of more than 200 technical components identified by Ukrainian   
   investigators that make up the innards of the captured drone, roughly half   
   were made by firms based in the U.S., and nearly a third by companies in   
   Japan, according to the report.   
      
   When contacted by the Journal, U.S. officials responsible for export-control   
   enforcement declined to confirm the origin of the components. The companies   
   whose parts were identified weren’t able to confirm the origin of components   
   or didn’t respond to    
   a request for comment.   
      
   Iran’s mission to the U.N. didn’t respond to questions about its use of   
   Western parts, but said that Tehran “is ready to meet with Ukraine at the   
   level of technical experts and investigate drone- or parts-ownership claims.”   
      
   U.S. sanctions imposed across Iran’s economy were intended in part to cut   
   the country off from the international financing and trade needed to fund and   
   develop its military, including drones. Similarly, prohibitions in the U.S.   
   and Europe on exports of    
   commercial components that could be used for advanced weaponry are designed to   
   prevent Iran and other foes from gaining from the West’s technical expertise.   
      
   The Western-made components that appear to guide, power and steer the drones   
   present a vexing problem for world leaders trying to contain Iranian weapons   
   development and proliferation. Iran’s fleet of unmanned military aircraft,   
   along with the    
   precision-guided missiles they can carry, is now seen by Western security   
   officials as a bigger immediate threat than Iran’s nuclear program.   
      
   “A priority is understanding how foreign parts are ending up in Iranian   
   drones,” said David Albright, founder of the Washington-based Institute for   
   Science and International Security, which published its own analysis of   
   Iranian drones last month.   
      
   The institute’s report said that besides Western components, there is also   
   evidence that Chinese companies might be supplying Iran with copies of Western   
   commodities to produce the combat drones.   
      
   The U.S. federal agency responsible for enforcing export controls, the   
   Commerce Dept’s Bureau of Industry and Security, launched an investigation   
   into the Western-origin parts, according to industry officials familiar with   
   the matter.   
      
   A senior Commerce Dept official declined to comment on any particular   
   situation but said “the proliferation of weapons into Ukraine for use   
   against Ukrainian people is a top priority for us, and we’re going to   
   investigate any illegal export that    
   might be connected with that effort.”   
      
   Russia began using Iranian drones to attack critical infrastructure after a   
   series of Ukrainian battlefield successes through the summer months sent its   
   Russian forces into retreat. Tehran’s Shahed-136 model caught immediate   
   public attention when    
   Russia began using the unmanned aircraft, dubbed kamikaze drones because they   
   strike targets by crashing into them, rather than launching weapons.   
      
   The Western-made components underscore the difficulty authorities have trying   
   to stem Tehran’s proliferation of its drones.   
      
   Many of the parts aren’t under export controls, and can easily be bought   
   over the internet and shipped to Iran through other countries that draw less   
   attention, according to industry and Western security officials. Such   
   transshipments are a violation    
   of law, though they can be difficult to prevent, those people say.   
      
   The U.S. Treasury sanctioned on Tuesday several Iranian, Russian and United   
   Arab Emirates companies and individuals it said are responsible for the   
   production and transfer of the Iranian drones used by Russia in Ukraine.   
      
   The servomotors in the Mohajer-6, which allow operators to maneuver the   
   unmanned craft through the air, were made by Japan’s Tonegawa-Seiko Co.,   
   according to Ukrainian intelligence documents and NAKO’s report.   
      
   The firm didn’t respond to a request for comment.   
      
   Japan’s Trade Ministry last year charged the firm for exporting servomotors   
   to China without a permit after U.N. investigators found one of the parts in   
   an Iranian drone. The company told local media that it didn’t know they   
   would be used in military    
   drones.   
      
   A host of other electronic components were manufactured by units of   
   German-owned Infineon Technologies AG and Arizona-based Microchip Technology   
   Inc., two of the world’s top-tier chip manufacturers, according to the   
   intelligence and NAKO report.   
      
   Brian Thorsen, a spokesman for Microchip Technology, said the firm “takes   
   care to maintain supply-chain integrity,” which includes screening clients.   
   He also said that besides having more than 120,000 customers in the   
   industrial, aerospace, defense    
   and other sectors, third-party distributors also sell its products around the   
   world.   
      
   “Without access to the device itself, we are unable to advise whether it is   
   a Microchip product or counterfeit product, and if it is a Microchip product,   
   how it ended up in this particular application,” Mr. Thorsen said.   
      
      
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