well this is interesting...

it seems the Russians are busily working on all sorts of interesting technologies in-house (SCADA, DCS, etc) ... there seems to be a real fear that if sanctions increase they'll be cut off from technology they need to run their industrial systems. Interesting to see where all this will lead.

MCST, has begun taking orders for Russian-made computer chips. At 65nm, at least one expert quoted warns that although the technology lags about five years behind that of western companies, the chips are described as "comparable with Intel Corp’s Core i(3/5/7) processors".

A modern CPU is *very* difficult to manufacture. Copying the transistors in a CAD program is the easy part, building it with a usable yield is the hard part. Why go through all that effort reinventing the wheel, since it would be much easier to invalidate foreign copyrights and simply pirate everything.

Elbrus-family chips have been around since the 1970s, but architecturally, the new platform is a mix of architecture: an ARM-derived core, with SPARC ISA, and Transmeta-like dynamic x86 translation.

I have to wonder if Putin's trade and oil deals with China included some exchange of expertise in digital manufacturing (are the MCST staff Russian nationals, or are they themselves recent imports of expertise from China?)

The recent EU/NATO baiting of the Bear has driven Putin into China's arms, but just because things are going reasonably well between Moscow and Beijing doesn't mean they always will be. Maybe it depends on what Surkov has up his sleeve.

"Student" foreign visas are pretty easy to get.

Let's hope there are more than one set of locks on Storrs' doors.

POET would be a pretty juicy espionage target, imo.

GLAL,

R.