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Russia Signs $7.4M US and German Deal for Electronic Warfare Expansion, Investigation Finds

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Ivan_khomenko
Ivan Khomenko
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Russia Signs $7.4M US and German Deal for Electronic Warfare Expansion, Investigation Finds
A Russian Su-57 fighter jet performs at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, China, on November 15, 2024. (Source: Getty Images)

A Russian defense company under the state-owned corporation Rostec has secured contracts to acquire American and German equipment worth approximately $7.4 million to expand its electronic warfare (EW) production capabilities, according to an investigation by Russian media Agentstvo on February 10.

The Kaluga Research Radio Engineering Institute (KNIIRI), a key developer of EW systems for Sukhoi aircraft, finalized agreements in December for the procurement of equipment from the German company Rohde & Schwarz and the American firm Keysight.

A screenshot from the Russian government procurement registry, verifying multi-million dollar contracts by KNIIRI for acquiring equipment from Western companies despite sanctions. (Source: Agentstvo)
A screenshot from the Russian government procurement registry, verifying multi-million dollar contracts by KNIIRI for acquiring equipment from Western companies despite sanctions. (Source: Agentstvo)

KNIIRI, founded in 1957, is part of the Radioelectronic Technologies Concern within Rostec and specializes in EW systems for aircraft, including the Su-24, Su-27, Su-30, Su-33, Su-34, Su-35, and Su-57, as well as electronic warfare helicopters.

Documents on the Russian government procurement website indicate that these acquisitions are intended to increase the production of airborne EW complexes. The majority of the equipment, valued at approximately $6.4 million, is expected to be manufactured in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Malaysia by Rohde & Schwarz, a Munich-based firm that supplies electronic systems to defense forces in Germany, Norway, and Canada.

The equipment includes signal analyzers, analog signal generators, vector network analyzers, power supplies, and oscilloscopes.

A procurement specification detailing purchased equipment, including signal generators, analyzers, and power supplies produced in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Malaysia, with a total value exceeding $7.4 million. (Source: Agentstvo)
A procurement specification detailing purchased equipment, including signal generators, analyzers, and power supplies produced in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Malaysia, with a total value exceeding $7.4 million. (Source: Agentstvo)

An additional $1 million will be allocated for the purchase of multimeters and ultra-high-frequency analyzers from Keysight, which are to be produced at the company’s Malaysian facility.

KNIIRI has been under US sanctions since 2019 and was added to the EU sanctions list in 2024. The procurement process was facilitated through an intermediary company, Gradient, which signed the contracts and is responsible for deliveries.

Gradient, established in 2019, has previously supplied Western technology to Russian government agencies. Public records show that he firm delivered a Keysight signal analyzer to a Russian military unit in its first year of operation. The company’s annual revenue surged from approximately $1.1 million in 2022 to $10 million in 2023.

A document confirming the supply of equipment to KNIIRI through the intermediary company “Gradient.” According to the contract, the institute received an SMA100B analog signal generator worth nearly $135,000. (Source: Agentstvo)
A document confirming the supply of equipment to KNIIRI through the intermediary company “Gradient.” According to the contract, the institute received an SMA100B analog signal generator worth nearly $135,000. (Source: Agentstvo)

The equipment is scheduled for delivery by the end of 2025, with initial shipments reportedly already underway. According to government procurement records, Gradient supplied an SMA100B analog signal generator to KNIIRI in December 2024 at a cost of nearly $135,000.

Earlier, an investigation by The Insider and Investigace revealed that nine European companies from the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland continued supplying sanctioned industrial equipment to Russia through subsidiaries and executive-owned firms. Despite sanctions, these companies maintained business ties with Russian defense enterprises, facilitating the import of critical machinery and materials worth over $623 million by 2023.

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