We have all watched in amazement how the once-feared Russian Army has done so poorly after it invaded Ukraine. Why we wondered, hasn’t the Russian Air Force and Electronic Warfare forces destroyed the Ukrainian troops? How is it possible for the Ukrainians to still have an air force and fighter planes? How was it possible to sink the Moskva?
There is a common thread that is just now being noticed. Russian soldiers are being paid a massive bonus for any washing machine/dryer they can steal; it’s the chips. Apparently, the sanctions imposed after Russia seized Crimea made it very hard to obtain replacement circuit boards and chips for their military and other equipment.
Russia is very much like a third-world country; it sells raw materials and does not have any advanced manufacturing or technology exports. Things like fighter planes, tanks, and ships all require extensive computerized operations that make high-end chips essential; Russia must import all of its chips and they have been embargoed since 2014 (and even worse now). What about China? China makes chips that are being provided, but China is not capable of making the high-end chips required by Russia. China, too, must import all of its high-end chips; until recently, many came from Taiwan.
My point is that both Russia and China depend on imported high-end computer chips for everything in our modern world (including washing machines and dryers). The lack of high-end chips (from sanctions) have made the Russian fighter jets, tanks, and ships dysfunctional in many areas. Their most advanced bomber aircraft cannot use their precision weapons; their chips are broken or missing. This is also true of the chips in the “smart” weapons; not too many of them have been made (not enough chips). The result? Russian aircraft must fly close to the ground to drop their “dumb” bombs (to try to avoid hitting their own troops); this is allowing Ukrainians to shoot them down with Stingers. This also applies to their Navy; nothing is working as it is supposed to.
The Ukrainians Army is increasingly reporting a trend of captured/destroyed tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs) having cannibalized chips that come from washers and dryers. If the Russian Army has become dependent on captured washers and dryers for chips to make warfare possible, they have already lost. Many of us have seen videos of washing machines visible when Russian troops have been pushed out.
So, not only can the Russians not make new tanks and APCs in their tank plants, but those 10,000 tanks in storage do not have any chips either. Every time they lose another tank/APC, it cannot be replaced. Never mind the people, it’s all about the computer chips. I suspect that Putin had no choice but to try a lightening war on Ukraine to stop the Crimea Sanctions and get the chips for Russia (and the Russian Military). He has been running a high bluff; soon he will be overwhelmed by Ukraine and the weapons from the West.
Think about it? What would happen if we could not buy new computers or phones for years? Unless you were part of the Elite? Would our cars work beyond a year or two without chips? What about our production facilities/factories? The Internet? All those databases? All computer hard drives have chips.
When Russia collapses, it will be much worse than anyone can guess; they have been hanging on by their fingernails. Now, many things begin to make sense. The Ukrainians now have artillery that shoots 30-40KM with rocket-boosted shells that also have super accurate chips in them. Drones are making the accuracy even better. The Russians only go 18KM and are much less accurate. This is not a fair fight, but the Russians have brought this on themselves. Think about Western Fighter planes (with all working chips) against Russian ones? Wow!
This is all about the shift in energies going on. Who’d have thunk?
Love, Light and Laughter,
