How a Russian company circumvents sanctions, and its twin brother cooperates with the US Air Force and NASA

Apr 02, 2024

Translation of a Channel 24 investigation

During Russia's war against Ukraine and geopolitical confrontation with the "collective West", Moscow learned not only to circumvent sanctions for the purchase of necessary technical equipment, but also to produce technological products for the American market together with the same West. At least, this is indicated by the results of the investigation based on the OSINT investigation and materials from the mass of documents posted on the network by Ukrainian hacktivists from the group " CyberResistance.”

The investigation established links between the sanctioned Russian firm Planar Tech and its American twin brother Copper Mountain Technologies. Channel 24 tells how Russia circumvents sanctions thanks to a company from the United States.

We are talking about the cooperation of the Russian manufacturer "Planar" from Chelyabinsk and its American subsidiary Copper Mountain Technologies, which have merged into one in their international activities. This was not hindered even by the harsh sanctions imposed on "Planar" due to its ties to Yevgeny Prigozhin (the murdered war criminal and leader of the Russian PMC "Wagner" paramilitary group, which is accused of war crimes in Ukraine, Syria and Africa). And therefore, for participating in Putin's war machine and his war against Ukraine.

Cooperation between Russian and American companies was quite public until the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Putin's troops, as there were no sanctions. Data on their cooperation are stored in open sources.

Here are quotes from the Planar report , which is still publicly available:

We have recently developed a new model of the synthesizer up to 20 GHz with very high performance and we plan to launch it in September. It is actually an analogue of the synthesizer previously produced by Phase Matrix, which is now a division of National Instruments. We expect that in time we will be able to enter the international market with this product. An example for us is the well-known Russian companies Planar (Chelyabinsk) and Morion (St. Petersburg). For example, "Planar", which manufactures telecommunications and measuring equipment, together with its partners opened the company Copper Mountain Technologies in the USA and successfully sells its products and solutions on the American market.

Sanctions against "Planar" and what the Russian company does

Planar was sanctioned in the first months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian government imposed sanctions against the company in response to the Russians' targeted and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
These far-reaching sanctions target a wide range of Russian military enterprises, including those that design and manufacture fighter jets, infantry fighting vehicles, electronic warfare systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles for the Russian military. The sanctions strike at the very heart of Putin's military machine. "Planar" Limited Liability Company manufactures and supplies electronic components and equipment. Thus, it is involved in benefiting and supporting the Russian government by doing business in the electronics sector, which is of strategic importance to the Russian government, the sanctions rationale states.

In March 2022, the United States and Great Britain introduced sanctions against Planar.
They were also joined by Switzerland and Germany, among other countries.
At the same time, for unknown reasons, "Planar" is still not included in the general black list of the EU.

However, with the introduction of international sanctions, Planar's cooperation with the American subsidiary Copper Mountain Technologies did not stop, but only became non-public. As a result, the Chelyabinsk company was forced to switch to shadow schemes with intermediaries in the form of newly created shim companies.

The network of connections of the Russian technology company Planar in the world / Infographics

On its official website, the company is positioned as a " developer and manufacturer of world-class high-tech electronic equipment ."

The company was founded in 1992 in Chelyabinsk by several engineers specializing in microwave electronics.
In 2003, the Russians shipped abroad the first analyzers of their own development, and by 2022 "Planar" already held about 10% of the global market for these devices , according to the company's own data.
Planar employs more than 400 people, including its own development and production centers in Chelyabinsk and Tomsk, which are equipped with the most modern equipment, as well as representative offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In addition, residents of Chelyabinsk have their own branch in the USA - this is Copper Mountain Technologies .

"Planar" products for the Russian defense industry

The link between Planar products and the Russian defense industry can be traced back to the origins of the contracts obtained by the CyberStrategy group.

The Russian supplier "Protech" made a commercial offer to the "Center for Special Technologies" (CST) for the supply of advanced technologies and electronics. Included in the list was the Planar C4420 50Ω Vector Circuit Analyzer (100kHz - 20.0GHz, 4-port (S11-S44), frequency range extension).

Pay attention! "Center of Special Technologies" (CST) is a Russian defense enterprise located in St. Petersburg. It is under Western sanctions for helping Russia in the war against Ukraine.

All this became known thanks to a large-scale data leak at the beginning of 2024 , as a result of which the military intelligence of Ukraine received almost 100 gigabytes of secret technological documentation.

Thanks to the leak of the documents of the CST, Ukraine gained access to detailed data on UAVs "Orlan-10", "Inokhodets", EW complexes "Svet-KU" and "Layer-3", as well as hundreds of units of military equipment. This proved that the "Center of Special Technologies" is responsible for providing Russian arms manufacturers with the necessary parts and advanced technologies. And, as follows from the leak of the commercial offer, he needed Planar products.

Planar and Copper Mountain Technologies (CMT) products are identical

Analysis of the devices and components of Planar and Copper Mountain Technologies showed that they produce absolutely identical products. The appearance and specifications are identical, as are the names and article numbers.

Sometimes the series, color or design is slightly different. They are probably adapted to the name of the official manufacturer and market. However, they are produced with identical technical characteristics and common article numbers from the "CABAN" and "COBALT" series.

At the same time, calibration for American Copper Mountain Technologies technologies takes place in Russia, in Chelyabinsk.

Here is an example of a calibration certificate for CMT technology, with the calibration location at the Chelyabinsk plant.

Patents for the products of twin companies in the USA and Russia

What about patents for high-tech products? It turns out that Copper Mountain Technologies and Planar have registered almost identical patents for identical products in the US and Russia. We are talking about the measuring module of the virtual vector network analyzer.

In Russia, the patent belongs to the company TAIR, the authors are Sergey Zaostrovnykh, Vladimir Semibratov and Oleg Morozov. At the same time, Sergey Zaostrovnykh combines the management of Russian and American companies. At "Planar" he is a director, and at SMT he is considered the technical director and founder of the company.

In the USA, SMT owns a similar patent, and its authors are a group of developers, among whom is the well-known Zaostrovnykh from Chelyabinsk, as well as colleagues Ryzhov, Bakurov and Ivashchenko. They also include the executive director of "Planar" Goloschokin, a US citizen of Russian origin, who is registered in the US in Indianapolis.

Technical documentation from the American company Texas Instruments confirms the identity of Planar and Copper Mountain Technologies products that were found in samples of Russian weapons used by Putin's army against Ukraine.

There is a quick method to check the built-in antennas in the circuit or in the device. Users can check if the antenna has the desired resonant frequency, matching or bandwidth without any soldering. To do this, you need to use a reflectometer (or VNA), a flexible high-quality cable, a handmade "braid" and a standard calibration set. Below is an example using the CABAN R60 reflectometer (cable and antenna analyzer) manufactured by PLANAR LLC (or model R60 from Copper Mountain Technologies) and the R VNA software.

Planar and Copper Mountain Technologies share technical documentation

At the same time, the Planar documentation still describes the process of downloading the English-language user manual from the Copper Mountain Technologies website, which indicates the identity of the software and hardware. We quote:

The VNA Performance Test software is distributed free of charge and available for download from the PLANAR website. The program supports two interface languages: Russian and English. To download the English version, you need to go to the Copper Mountain Technologies website.

Hence, CMT software is suitable for Planar production. And this suggests that we are talking about one company, which has two different offices in two different countries, between which there is a geopolitical conflict due to the Putin regime's war against Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian company is under sanctions, which should block any cooperation.

The CEO of Copper Mountain Technologies, Russian-American Alex Goloschokin, himself confirmed in an interview with the media the fundamental connection between Planar and CMT:

Our company is named after another Copper Mountain, which is located on the South Ural Range (in central Russia). Chelyabinsk, where our production center is located, is located in this region. Our Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) development team consists of 15 engineers. And more than 70 highly qualified technicians work on the production line and in the quality control department of VNA. Our Indianapolis office handles global business development and sales. Customer support is also provided by our two engineers in Indianapolis.

In another interview , even before the full-scale war, in 2020, Goloschokin also mentions "Copper Mountain in the Urals" and describes the work of the development team in Russia.

In the nearly 10 years since the introduction of the first USB VNA, CMT has grown to 65 companies – and counting – with headquarters in Indianapolis and a large development team based in the Ural Mountains of Russia, near Copper Mountain, the oldest mine in Urals.

Obviously, this is a reference to the fairy tales of Pavel Bazhov, popular in Russia, "Midnaya Gora Gospodinya".

Vacancy announcements indicate continued cooperation after sanctions against "Planar"

Planar's job postings indicate continued cooperation between Russian and American technology companies. The company claims to be " a partner of Copper Mountain Technologies, a global supplier of vector analyzers in 100 countries ." This is 10 percent of the total market.

Planar's partner, the TAIR company, also announces a foreign partnership in recruiting and, in particular, has published a vacancy for a C++ programmer (Junior), who can theoretically work remotely both for the sanctioned Planar and for the American Copper Mountain Technologies.

Quote from the presentation:

TAIR is a partner of PLANAR and Copper Mountain Technologies in the development and production of vector analyzers, microwave components and measuring systems. The companies united and directed their efforts and capabilities to the development of the electronic industry.

Another partner, SINECTA, based in Tomsk, has a similar vacancy for a software developer.

How do Planar and CMT manage to cooperate without subjecting the American company to secondary sanctions? Are there shell companies for trade and technology transfer?

This OSINT investigation revealed at least one. This is "Sotik" LLC, which exports "Planar" technologies to various countries, mainly to intermediary firms in China, as evidenced by export statistics.

EXPORTER: COMPANY "SOTIS"

454091, CHELYABINSK REGION, G. CHELIABINSK, UL. Elkina, 32.

BUYER: ARKOS TRADING PTE LTD

409051, , SINGAPORE, 60 PAYA LEBAR ROAD #12-04,PAYA LEBAR SQUARE.

DESCRIPTION:

ELECTRONIC DEVICES DESIGNED FOR MEASURING PARAMETERS OF TELEVISION SIGNALS OF ANALOG AND DIGITAL CABLE TELEVISION, GENERAL CIVIL APPLICATION:

HS-CODE: 9030893000

TRADEMARK: PLANAR

PRODUCER: PLANAR

SYNECTA is a joint Cypriot subsidiary of Planar and CMT

There is another company in the chain of supply and cooperation - SYNECTA. It develops software for CMT and Planar products, which once again proves their identity. At the same time, in presentations, SYNECTA is usually mentioned as part of Copper Mountain Technologies.

On its own website, SYNECTA is positioned as part of the PLANAR cluster and declares only "partnership relations" with CMT.

At the same time, the CEO of SYNECTA, Alexey Surkov, also presents himself on his LinkedIn profile as the head of ITC Europe, working from an office in Cyprus.

What about Copper Mountain Technologies? We also found Surkov on the CMT website . There he is presented as the manager of the Cyprus office of CMT Europe.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Surkov represents the local company SYNECTA in Tomsk , where Planar has its own production.

The report on its financial activities , published on February 28, 2024, confirms the reliability of the information about its officials.

Founders and participants:

Zaostrovnykh Sergey Aleksandrovich – 50%
Alexey Surkov – 35%.

SYNECTA has established relations with global giants based in the USA. The company's internship video talks about a large client base from Boeing, Apple, SpaceX, and more.

Russian technologies in the US defense and space sectors

This led to even more startling findings indicating the use of CMT products in the US defense and space industries.

We remind you that CMT electronics are identical to Russian electronics produced by Planar, which founded CMT in the USA.

Copper Mountain Technologies cooperates with the company Pacific Antenna Systems LLC , which provides it with measuring devices, which is reported on the official website of the company. PAS manufactures antennas using CMT components that are identical to Russian Planar products.

The American technology company Pacific Antenna Systems reports on its website that it produces technical data sheets for satellite communication antennas, as well as radar and powerful microwave antennas used in aviation.

On its website, Pacific Antenna Systems lists the US Department of Defense as one of its customers. In a promo review on the CMT website, this company highly rated measuring devices manufactured by Copper Mountain Technologies:

Working with mmWave measurements is very difficult, any inaccuracy can distort the measurement results. You want to make sure the system is accurate and stable. Repeat measurements cost you time and money. Data should be easily manipulated and further processed, which is a feature of Copper Mountain Technologies USB vector network analyzers.

We were pleasantly surprised by how CobaltFx's FEV-10 measurements compared to other vendors' measurements. We chose the CMT VNA for ease of use and cost. We work with all types of antennas: radar, electronic warfare and telecommunications. They require testing in different types of environments, and the size and portability of the FEV-10 frequency extension system made this possible. Customer support was excellent. Big companies put you in line, but Copper Mountain Technologies responds quickly to us, even though we are a small company.

Pacific Antenna System is one of Copper Mountain Technologies' defense contract partners. Their cooperation is covered in case studies .

Pacific Antenna Systems is an antenna development company located in Camarillo, California. PAS has an extensive design history spanning over 70 years of experience in the design of antenna systems. The company develops antenna solutions for a variety of applications, including communications, radar, high power,"
the report said.

I was surprised by the same accuracy and stability that Copper Mountain Technologies provided with a much less expensive device,
says Anthony Macari, vice president of Pacific Antenna Systems.

The US Department of Defense confirmed the purchase of antennas manufactured by Pacific Antenna Systems , which include components manufactured by Copper Mountain Technologies, in a statement on its website.

"The following projects will receive funding through the APFIT pilot program: Advanced Sensor Package Procurement, US Navy, Arete Associates, California, Arizona, and Florida.

Accelerates procurement of multi-sensor payloads for use in unmanned underwater vehicles. Ensures the safe passage of US and allied naval forces thanks to improved mine detection capabilities.
Radio Interference Protection for Sustaining Maritime Operations, US Marine Corps, Pacific Antenna Systems, Titan Systems LLC and Naval Systems, California and Maryland.
Initial procurement of small antennas for persistent communications that fit the external contours of tactical aircraft. It provides high data rates that can be scaled to support the needs of multiple missions and connects national technical assets with tactical advantage."

So, Russian technology finds its way into the US military sector, for example, in antennas used in airplanes. But not only. They also got into space.

Technological supplies for NASA

After NASA reported testing a new space fuel sensor on the Lunar Rover and said that space fuel sensor technology designed to solve this problem would be demonstrated during an upcoming trip to the moon, CMT boasted about using its technology. The RFMG technology uses radio waves and antennas in the tank to measure the amount of fuel, the report said. The antennas come from CMT, a Russian-founded company that manufactures identical technology.

Here's what Copper Mountain Technologies wrote on LinkedIn about its involvement in NASA projects:

We are over the moon to learn that NASA's Radio Frequency Mass Meter (RFMG), which uses CMT's 1-port VNA for testing, has reached a critical evaluation point with its upcoming launch to the lunar surface as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload initiative Services (CLPS).

CMT contracts for the US defense industry

Copper Mountain Technologies has also partnered with Verus Research , a research and development company, to provide metrology-grade VNAs. Verus Research is a team of research scientists and engineers engaged in research and development for federal clients including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and NASA. They work in areas such as directed energy, satellite communications, electronic warfare, and radio frequency antenna design.

Copper Mountain Technologies supplies USB vector network analyzers for the defense industry. The company exhibits its products that belong to the following NAICS categories: "Manufacturing of electrical and electrical signal and measurement and test equipment", "Manufacturing of analytical laboratory instruments" and "Manufacturing of other electronic components".

List of products:

5G OTA antenna testing system for far field up to 72 centimeters.
5G OTA antenna testing system for far field up to 133 centimeters.
Test system for testing 5G OTA antennas for the far field up to 193 centimeters.

On its website , Copper Mountain Technologies reports that it conducts annual VNA calibration in its calibration laboratories in Indianapolis and Cyprus, which are accredited according to the recognized international standard ISO/IEC 17025. We will remind that CMT and the Russian "Planar" have a common Cypriot subsidiary SYNECTA .

Copper Mountain Technologies has received contracts from defense agencies such as the NSWC Crane Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Centers, the NASA Joint Services Center and AFLCMC Wright Patterson AFB, according to official records . In 2015, the Air Force Education and Training Command funded the purchase of a Planar 808/1 Vector Network Analyzer for AFLCMC Wright Patterson AFB from Copper Mountain Technologies through a streamlined procurement process.

As you can see, at that time the CMT company supplied the US defense departments with products under the brand name of the Russian manufacturer "Planar". The company's federal contracts can be found here.

CMT production components for the US Air Force

CMT products were also used by the US Air Force. Copper Mountain Technologies has partnered with Compass Technology Group , which is " focused on applying innovative materials measurement research to its products ."

According to the CMT website , Compass Technology Group is integrating Copper Mountain Technologies network analyzers into its sensor systems.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory has published an article detailing the collaboration between AFRL and Compass Technology Group in the area of special materials research. According to the article, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Compass Technology Group have signed an agreement to collaborate on two projects that have a direct impact on the U.S. Air Force's advanced special materials programs.

The collaboration with CTG is also mentioned in the DoD article " Air Force Teams With Industry to Further Aircraft and Radome Coating Research ".

As part of the project, AFRL provided a compact microwave transparency sensor system to Compass Technology Group for testing and further non-destructive evaluation of aircraft coatings and radar fairings. The system uses two robotic arms, each with one of Compass Technology's advanced microwave mapping sensors, to scan components to measure coatings. We remember that the CMT company, which cooperates with CTG, specializes in measuring devices.

Anti-Russian sanctions and US defense contracts

All these facts prove that the Russian technological company "Planar" and the American Copper Mountain Technologies remain practically the same company and develop identical products, but for different markets. While Planar is under US sanctions for its ties to Putin's military machine, Copper Mountain Technologies is receiving contracts from the US defense industry and NASA.

These facts require special attention. After all, this indicates that the Russian manufacturer, directly connected with the work on Putin's military machine, is not hindered by international sanctions in cooperation or international trade.

This is not surprising, as numerous journalistic investigations have already shown that Russia has found ways to circumvent sanctions by using third countries and shell companies to purchase technology and maintain its military potential.

As you can see, even joint business of sanctioned companies in the West is quite possible.

But how it became possible, what are the ways to circumvent the sanctions, how to close them and how to punish the guilty - these are open questions for the authorized institutions in the USA. Only the as soon as possible introduction of sanctions will not allow Russia to continue the war and kill innocent Ukrainians, and will also provide an opportunity for the USA to eliminate a large gap in its own security system, because the Russians, who are connected to the military technologies of the Russian Federation and are camped in the American "defense", are a direct threat .

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