Russia has less than 50 hypersonic missiles left due to chip shortage, claims Ukraine

As Russia faces a critical deficit in military components and microchips due to the US-led European sanctions, it is down to an estimated less than 50 hypersonic missiles having used nearly half of its arsenal during the course of its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Moscow's invading forces have left just about four dozen hypersonic missiles, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Politico in an interview on Tuesday.

Furthermore, he declared, that Russia's defence ministry might not be able to restock its military equipment without the microchips, the component that's used in almost everything including electronic devices, vacuum cleaners, and most importantly military equipment and fighter jets. Pentagon, in its recent briefing, also revealed that the Javelin and Stinger missiles systems, used widely in Ukrainian countermeasures to ward off Russian fire, might be hampered by persistent semiconductor manufacturing delays.

US military HQ expressed concerns about the national security stakes whilst passing the CHIPS Act aimed at boosting America's own semiconductor industry. Russia, which deployed Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and other high-precision weapons in combat, is faced with a similar dilemma. Russian forces used the Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles to destroy an underground arms warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the Ukrainian village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. 

"According to our information, Russians have already spent almost half of their weaponry arsenal," Shmyhal said, adding that Moscow's troops have only "four dozen" hypersonic missiles left as they are unable to replenish the military weapon stock due to sanctions and shortage of microchips. 

Missiles attack precision and accuracy depend on 'microchips'

The missiles acquire the attack precision and accuracy due to the microchips that they have, Shmyhal explained. "But because of sanctions are imposed on Russia, the deliveries of this high-tech microchip equipment have stopped and they have no way of replenishing these stocks," he maintained. Moscow's troops are now preserving high-tech equipment and are instead using the Soviet-era outdated equipment, Diederik Cops, a researcher at the Flemish Peace Institute, told Politico. "More and more 'dumb' rockets are being found in Ukraine, demonstrating how Russia is battling supply chain shortages," he iterated. 

Russia has also been using scrap metal from household appliances, computer chips, dishwashers and refrigerators for its military hardware as it continues to struggle in replenishing its military weapons due to a lack of foreign components. “We have reports from Ukrainians that when they find Russian military equipment on the ground, it’s filled with semiconductors that they took out of dishwashers and refrigerators,” Gina Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce told a Senate hearing. 

At least two Russian tank factories– Uralvagonzavod Corporation and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant – were forced to shut down because of a lack of components as sanctions hit Russian enterprises and the military-industrial complex that strangled exports. An estimated 1,000 private sector companies pulled out of Russia, while more than 200,000 Russians, many of whom are highly skilled, have also fled since the invasion. The US-sanctioned Limited Liability Company Promtekhnologiya that produced rifles and other weapons used by troops in the military operations in Ukraine. "Our approach was to deny Russia technology — technology that would cripple their ability to continue a military operation," United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo ascertained.