In 2022 and 2023, Russian companies managed to circumvent European sanctions and purchase outdated spare parts for ASML lithography machines used for chip production. According to the Dutch newspaper Trouw, which cites Russian customs documents, these parts were acquired through Chinese intermediaries.
Dutch technology company ASML dominates the market for modern lithography systems that use light beams to create microchips.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions prohibiting the sale of electronic equipment to Russia, including parts for lithography machines.
However, Russian importers found ways to import at least 170 batches of spare parts for ASML’s PAS 5500 lithography tools, primarily from Chinese suppliers, notes Trouw.
ASML told Reuters that it adheres to sanctions and that even before their imposition, it sold very little equipment to Russia.
The PAS 5500 lithography systems first appeared in 1991 and continued to evolve throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, when ASML was a promising competitor to leading companies of the time, Japanese Nikon and Canon.
As explained by Tom’s Hardware, while ASML no longer manufactures these devices, the company sells used PAS 5500 units and plans to support them until 2035.
Formally, these machines are not classified as dual-use technologies with potential military applications (likely because the newest models are about 20 years old), but they can be used to manufacture quite advanced microchips.
Depending on the specific model, these machines are capable of producing chips of varying complexity, including those with capabilities comparable to Russian chip manufacturers Angstrem and Mikron.
Meanwhile, most reports on microelectronics found in Russian weapons focus on Western chips from companies such as Intel or Texas Instruments. However, with sufficiently advanced process technologies, Russia can also produce its own chips for weapons. According to Igor Lapko, an engineer with many years of experience in the chip industry, Russian rockets now use fewer old components and more new chips produced by Angstrem.
