Defense Intelligence of Ukraine has executed a successful operation and obtained nearly 100 gigabytes of secret technological documentation from the Special Technology Center LLC (STC LLC), a russian defense enterprise located in St. Petersburg.
This extensive cache includes blueprints, PRDs, patents, software, and other information on 194 items of russian military equipment, including UAVs like Orlan-10, electronic warfare systems such as Svet-KU, and various individual components and subsystems.
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Such a valuable trove of information was exchanged as part of the "Apostle pays money" initiative where blogger Volodymyr Zolkin and journalist Dmytro Karpenko are willing to pay russians for information about the positions or possessions of the russian army. In exchange for the substantial data on STC LLC, the whistleblowers sought assistance to leave the russian federation.
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence estimated the value of this information at over $1.5 billion. However, the real importance will manifest itself on the battlefield, and there will be a whole lot to manifest. The authors of the project provided a glimpse of vast technical data on russian weapons in mass production, experimental and concept design stages of development, covering drones, communication systems, electronic warfare, and signal intelligence.
One example is the Orlan-10, the primary reconnaissance UAV of russian forces. According to the video report, this drone uses the Kometa-M satellite navigation antenna which has demonstrated high resistance to interference.
The list also includes several attack and reconnaissance drones: Altius (a.k.a Altair, presented in 2021), rare Inokhodets and its modernized derivative Sirius, which made its first flight in mid-2023.
Speaking of EW systems, the STC LLC not only developed the Svet-KU but also the more well-known Leer-3 — so far Ukrainians managed to destroy one of them and take one more as a trophy. The documents will help in cracking down this system.
The documentation also covers the portable satellite communication station P-438 Barrier-T. Additionally, mentioned are "topics" for experimental design works like Balat, Volga-SG, Demagog, Drovorub, Irkhan, Iteration, Kalimba, Nebosvod, Plast, Platan, Silok, Topotun, Khokhloma, and Stempel which all refer to respective products in development.
Although some of these projects are not directly related to STC LLC, it appears that the company acted as their co-executor. Thus, the amount of data obtained goes well beyond the limits of STC LLC's own developments and projects.
This wealth of obtained information on the enemy's tech secrets is unprecedented. Furthermore, it contains insights into russia's most advanced EW and SIGINT which makes it very interesting to Ukraine's partners in NATO as it allows them to develop effective countermeasures and algorithms.
No less importantly, this technical documentation can be used to start producing similar systems, as it essentially serves as an assembly instruction. This process is much easier than reverse-engineering captured equipment.
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