Oscillators and crystals produced by Somerset-based Golledge Electronics have been incorporated into Russian radar and missile systems. The highly sophisticated components show that Moscow’s war machine is based on highly sophisticated Western technology, according to the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi). Russia has lost so many cruise and ballistic missiles, electronic warfare equipment and specialized radios in Ukraine that “the degradation of Russian military capability could become permanent if the right policies are implemented,” the report said. The Kremlin has also set up a “clandestine network” of spies to try to procure replacements for the components, which it can no longer access due to sanctions, he adds. Oscillators and crystals emit a precise electrical signal that can be used in computer chips and quartz clocks. Russia has incorporated them into its Torn-MDM, a truck-based system designed to intercept communications and radio signals, and its Tor-M2 missile, which uses radar to detect targets. The United Kingdom, as a member of the European Union, introduced a ban on the export of so-called “dual-use” goods for military purposes as part of a 2014 package of sanctions against Moscow following its illegal annexation of Crimea.
