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Nearly 60% of the foreign components identified in Russian and Iranian drones and munitions are manufactured by U.S.-headquartered companies, including Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Nvidia, Micron Technology and Xilinx, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) said in an official response to Türkiye Today.
It was revealed that Nvidia Jetson AI microcomputers are now being used for automated drone targeting, evidence of what Kyiv calls joint Russian-Iranian collaboration in weapons development.
"As of early April 2026, the 'Components in Weapons' section of the War&Sanctions portal contains information on 5,626 components identified in 195 types of weaponry, of which 2,805 were found in 79 types of UAVs used by Russia against Ukraine," the GUR stated.
"Nearly 60% of all components are manufactured by enterprises headquartered in the United States," GUR noted.
The GUR said that in the components of the Shahed-131, Shahed-136, localized Geran-2, Shahed-107 and Shahed-238 drones, "the share of American components also stands at nearly 60%."
This finding is consistent with the War&Sanctions portal maintained by the GUR, which provides interactive 3D models and component breakdowns of Russian and Iranian weapons recovered on the Ukrainian battlefield, cataloging thousands of individual parts traceable to Western manufacturers.
GUR reports that the Geran series, Russia’s localized version of the Iranian Shahed, is increasingly reliant on Chinese components due to sanctions and supply chain disruptions.
"Where Russia can replace Western and American components with Chinese analogs or counterfeits, it does so. Simple components are replaced quickly, while complex ones are replaced gradually," the intelligence directorate said.
It cited the example of anti-jamming navigation modules with CRP antennas installed on Geran drones, where American-made FPGA programmable gate arrays from Altera (Intel Corporation) and Xilinx (AMD) "are gradually being replaced with Chinese ones from Beijing Microelectronics Technology Institute (BMTI)."
The GUR said U.S.-origin electronic components also reach Russian weapons production lines through third countries, primarily China.
"Chinese intermediaries supply this production to Russian importers, who then supply it to the defense-industrial complex of the Russian Federation, either directly or through intermediaries," the document stated.
"Ukraine conducts constant systematic work to identify such networks and transmits intelligence to Western partners for the application of sanctions, improvement of verification practices and control," the GUR said.
Meanwhile, media reports in March by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Financial Times (FT) and The Associated Press (AP) claimed that Russia has been expanding intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran during the current war, providing satellite imagery, targeting data and improved drone technology to aid Tehran's targeting of U.S. forces.
Russian and Iranian officials have had "very active" discussions regarding transferring drones from Russia to Iran, including upgraded versions of drone technology Tehran originally supplied to Moscow after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to U.S. and European officials.
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