This is a huge wakeup call for me.
The PBS Newshour on July 21, 2023 broadcast an article about how Ukranian military are deconstructing Russian missiles after they have destroyed buildings and killed people in Ukraine. Here is the video: Parts made by U.S. companies used to build Russian cruise missiles
What they have found is shocking.
They have found older microprocessors such as the Xilog Z80186 (circa 2005) in some of the missiles. This processor is not very powerful by today's standards but can still be programmed to handle complex algorithms such as flight controls and targeting. I used this chip in my invention - the very first Enterprise-capable, desktop computer back in 1980. Even then, export controls prevented me from selling the computer to certain countries – Russia was one of them.
What I found on the Internet is that Zilog, now "a Littlefuse company," apparently has sales offices throughout Russia – according to the 2023 copyright on this webpage.
That finding was in a "legacy" missile.
The latest Russian KH101 Cruise Missiles contain a scarier American item. It's a Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA chip. This is a serious, programmable, complex device that is very state-of-the-art. It operates at a very high speed, and can be programmably configured, and reconfigured to operate extremely complex algorithms and is capable of autonomously controlling the missile to its programmed target. And the device can be reprogrammed in flight toward its mission.
I should know. Only five years ago I created, and patented, it as a computer chip that executes encrypted code without ever decrypting the program. My invention was called CRIPTC and, fortunately, the U.S. military establishment deemed the patent to be top secret.
My point is this, though. If I can do this, I'm sure there are Russian whizzes that can do the same – or more!
But how do the Russians still get these devices? The KH101 missiles are recent. Probably built since our sanctions.
We MUST STOP Russia from obtaining these high-technology devices. We should REQUIRE these devices to be manufactured only within controlled facilities AND controlled distribution! The are killing innocent people!
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