Senate subcommittee finds array of US tech in Russian weapons; execs to testify Sept. 10

Executives from four U.S. tech companies, including Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) and Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI), are slated to testify before a Senate committee over their products being used in Russian weaponry.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is holding a hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 10, to examine “The U.S. Companies’ Technology Fueling the Russian War Machine.”

“The Russians are relying on American technology,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) at a hearing in late February. “Our sanctions’ system is a sieve. Our export control regime is lethally ineffective. And something has to be done.”

Although the four companies in question apparently stopped exporting products to Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Senate investigators found exports to neighboring counties increased substantially. They believe these neighboring countries might be serving as middlemen to provide Russia with the components it needs to build missiles.

Preliminary findings by the subcommittee showed exports by Intel, Analog Devices, AMD and Texas Instruments to five countries neighboring Russia have increased substantially since the invasion. For example, combined exports to Turkey increased from 14.5M in 2021 to 31.5M in 2022. Exports to Kazakhstan increased from 1,936 to 1.9M, over the same period.

“These four companies were selected due to public reports regarding the repeated appearance of their products in Russian military equipment and/or evidence that their products continue to flow to Russia despite export controls,” according to a PSI memo.

The investigation also uncovered a spike in U.S. tech exports to Armenia, Finland and Georgia, over the same period.

Another document revealed of all the foreign-made electronics found in Russian missiles, those made in the US accounted for 81%, followed by Switzerland at 8% and Germany and Japan at 3.5% each.

“Despite robust export control efforts, numerous reports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have highlighted both Russia’s continued ability to acquire U.S.-manufactured semiconductors and the appearance of these semiconductors in Russian military supplies recovered on the battlefield,” according to a subcommittee report.

Those called to testify include Michelle Stout, Analog Devices’ vice president of global trade compliance and government affairs; Jeff Rittener, Intel’s chief trade officer and vice president of international trade; Tiffany Scurry, AMD’s corporate vice president and chief compliance officer; and Shannon Thompson, Texas Instruments’ vice president and assistant general counsel for commercial operations.

The hearing will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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