Thread by @mxpoliakov

I received bizarre microchips from the downed Russian SU-24M near Bakhmut. Research revealed that at least one microchip is part of the SVP-24 automatic targeting system. As you can guess, it is full of Western parts 🧵

Microchips were retrieved from the crash site of SU-24M (RF-93798) by the Skala Battalion.

I've got four samples. I grouped two similar microchips since they might be part of the same board. Before we take a closer look at the chips, what exactly is SVP-24?

SVP-24 is supposed to solve the same problem as the US-made JDAM. How to turn chunky unguided dumb bombs into precision weapons? Both Russia and the US have large leftover stockpiles from the Cold War. But the solution design is vastly different.

Let's quickly reiterate what JDAM does. The idea is to get a dumb bomb, add fins and stabilizers, a GPS module, and inertial guidance sensors. Voila, you have a precision all-weather weapon for a fraction of the cost of a new smart bomb.

Instead of installing kits on every bomb, Russia opted to install SVP-24 on each jet or helicopter. It has many modules, sensors & radars that would compute attack paths, which the pilot would have to fly through so that the bomb would release automatically & hit the target.

How do I know that some provided microchips are part of this system? Well, it is written on microchip #1. Elementary, my dear Watson.

We also have a handwriting label 043-IV-18, which might be the production date (April 2018).

The microchip was part of the Obsor-RVB-T24 module. It is used for correcting and displaying the data from onboard Orion radar.

The labeling on parts is hardly visible. Maybe it was concealed on purpose. But we can utilize additional lighting to see what it is.

Microchip #1 contains:
• 3x Xilinx Spartan II XC2S200 FPGA
• 3x Xilinx XC18V02 PROM
• 6x Micron MT48LC16M16A2 256Mb SDRAM
• 1x Analog Devices ADSP-21065L DSP
• 1x Atmel ATMEGA8-16AU
• 1x Atmel ATMEGA12816AU
• 1x Analog Devices ADV7123 CMOS
• 1x AMD AM29LV040B CMOS

Xilinx, Micron, Analog Devices, Atmel, and AMD are American companies. What are they doing in a Russian microchip used for military purposes produced after 2014? The US introduced sanctions for the microchips back in 2014 for annexing Crimea and part of Donbas.

It didn't work. And it also didn't after the full-scale invasion started. Western chips are found in the newly produced Orlan-10. They are also found in Iran's Shahed-136. Part of the problem is that these chips are general purpose, and you can easily find them in everyday tech.

Microchip #2 was quite damaged; the processor was missing, and part of the microchip was cut. But, I found one clue a manufacturer, AMPRO was still visible. I quickly found similar boards, and after a while, I found the same chip selling on eBay in perfect condition.

This is the AMPRO CM2-420 Single Board Computer from 2007. Interestingly, it still sells for $160. From the datasheet, we can find that it has an STMicroelectronics processor and Intel ethernet chip.

The bonus is microchip #3, which is most likely part of the original jet systems from Soviet times. There is manual soldering, handwriting, and Cyrillic labeling on most components. Quite fascinating.

How does SVP-24 work in practice? Is it a genius, cheap alternative to JDAM? I don't know. Russian propaganda states that it worked very well in Syria. But for some reason, the city of Aleppo is raised to the ground with the "smart" bombs launched by SVP-24.

I did not find reliable accounts of this system working in Ukraine. It even might have been turned off in the downed jet. Nevertheless, this is another hard evidence of Russia blatantly using Western tech to wage wars. Can it ever be stopped?

Many of you pointed out that PCB would be a more correct term to call the boards instead of the microchip. That is true; thank you! Regarding the chance of uncovering the code from PROM of PCB #1. Connecting the Xilinx Jtag to the ports on the board might be possible

A follow-up 🧵 on connecting via JTAG to one of the circuit boards