The United States has tightened export controls over its technologies, which the US delivers transfers to Russia, China and Venezuela. Russia has been preparing for this for seven years, is there any result yet?
The US Department of Commerc has blacklisted 45 Russian companies and departments as "military end users." In a nutshell, the companies are allegedly associated with the Russian Ministry of Defense, which stops them, according to the Export Control Rules, from buying a wide range of US-made goods and technologies.
It goes about such civilian companies as Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Irkut, Tupolev, RCC "Progress" (a division of Roscosmos), the Central Scientific Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering (TsNIIMash, the leading scientific institute of Roscosmos), the United Aircraft Corporation, which is part of Rostec, the All-Russian Research Institute of Automation named after Dukhov (Rosatom division), etc.
The US Department of Commerce pointed out that the above-mentioned companies are "military end users" which makes them subject to export controls.
In fact, US individuals and legal entities are now not allowed to export, re-export or otherwise transfer blacklisted goods and technology without the express permission from the US government. For example, if American technologies or components are used in the projects of Rosatom, Roscosmos or Rostec, the suppliers will be required to obtain a special license from the US Department of Commerce or withdraw from such projects.
"The Department recognizes the importance of leveraging its partnerships with U.S. and global companies to combat efforts by China and Russia to divert U.S. technology for their destabilizing military programs," the US Department of Commerce said in a statement.
Andrei Koshkin, an expert with the Association of Military Political Scientists, the head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Pravda.Ru that the USA is getting rid of competitors from the arms market.
The expert views such actions as an element of the US hybrid war against Russia and China because the latter "rise in terms of integrity, unity, economically, internationally, and in terms of security."
The letter from the head of Rosatom Dmitry Rogozin to NASA chief Jim Bridenstine fact suggests that the sanctions have hurt Roscosmos indeed.
In the letter, Rogozin asks Bridenstine for information on the planned actions that NASA will take in order to prevent delays in the operation of the ISS. Rogozin told RIA Novosti that TsNIIMash is the leading scientific institute of the industry, which includes the ISS Mission Control, where a group of NASA specialists is permanently present.
"Don't they know that there is nothing there that could connect this institution with military research?" he asked.
Commenting on Rogozin's demanding letter to NASA, Andrei Koshkin said that the Pentagon "steamrolls all NASA projects," while the sanctions will not let civilian joint projects develop.
"Rogozin hopes that the agreements that existed and exist between the United States of America and the Russian Federation in the space industry should be a priority. I would like to consider such statements effective. But it seems to me that in this situation, his demands are overly ambitious," said the expert.
The restrictions will also hit the Russian aviation industry. Russia's new MC-21 passenger aircraft uses both US-made engines, which can technically be replaced with the Russian PD-14 being developed, and many other American components. There are many of them in SuperJet too. These projects are being developed by the blacklisted UAC Irkut. Rosatom is less vulnerable at this point as it uses completely domestic technologies and components for them.
The full list of foreign technologies and components used in the Russian defense industry is classified, but domestic aircraft and missiles are far from being fully localized, especially when it comes to electronic equipment. Imported Western components are used in the production of processors, radars for the latest ships and fighter aircraft, thermal imagers for tanks, engines, and so on.
Russia continues its import substitution program. Thus, JSC Klimov has mastered the production of gas turbine engines for helicopters, but the problem with the production of new gearboxes is already obvious. There is no technology in Russia for the production of silicon crystals for processors. They are manufactured in Taiwan.
The ultimate goal of the United States is to force other countries to carry out reforms according to the pattern of the United States, but the result is always the same: economic collapse, stagnation and income decline. The "democratized" countries face a crisis, and it is US companies that become the only winners in this game.
Russia, according to Andrei Koshkin, should search for new agreements with partners, develop import substitution projects in order to be able to fill the gaps that US sanctions create.
"Russia should not miss its market, including the export one. There are many sectors that can be filled with domestic products," said Andrey Koshkin.