It can be used to measure distances and trigger detonation, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine\u2019s special envoy for sanctions, said in a\u00a0social media post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s unclear how Russia obtained the equipment, which isn\u2019t designed for military use, Lightware said in a response to questions this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It blamed \u201cunscrupulous\u201d purchasers. The range finder was named among components that Ukraine\u2019s intelligence services said on their Telegram channel were discovered in Russian drones. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under South African law a company is prohibited from exporting arms to a country engaged in active conflict without the permission of the government\u2019s National Conventional Arms Control Committee, or NCACC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe entity in question is not registered to trade with munitions and dual-use goods and technologies,\u201d Sipho Mashaba, the acting director for conventional arms control at the NCACC, said in an emailed response to questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis matter will be referred to the inspectors who will visit the premises of the entity to establish the scope of their business as well as the application.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The technology built into Lightware\u2019s sensors is used in driverless cars and in applications ranging from monitoring ore movements at mines to counting endangered wildlife. The company has reduced the size and weight of the sensors, making it easier to deploy in drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sensor was found in a Russian Garpiya-A1 drone<\/a>, a long-range so-called suicide drone that explodes when it reaches its target, Vlasiuk said this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lightware said there was no need to seek export permits because the equipment is only for civilian use. \u201cWe do not fall under the ambit of the NCACC,\u201d Nadia Nilsen, the company\u2019s chief executive officer, said by email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt appears an unscrupulous operator, without our knowledge, purchased our sensors elsewhere and used them unlawfully in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia sought to ramp up drone production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Documents\u00a0seen by Bloomberg earlier this year<\/a>\u00a0detailed how Moscow used ties with Beijing, for example, to skirt sanctions and gather the know-how and capability to build more of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia has increased its\u00a0aerial drone barrages<\/a>\u00a0in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Cyril Ramaphosa\u00a0led\u00a0an African effort to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and continues to push\u00a0for a settlement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa is also\u00a0trying to repair strained relations<\/a>\u00a0with the US after the Trump administration criticized the country\u2019s relations with Moscow and Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February 2023, the US was angered by South Africa\u00a0holding military exercises<\/a>\u00a0with the Russian navy. A few months later, Reuben Brigety, then US ambassador to South Africa,\u00a0accused the country<\/a>\u00a0of shipping arms to Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa carried out a judicial probe that found no evidence to substantiate Brigety\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Trump earlier this year falsely accused South Africa of perpetrating a genocide against White people<\/a>, the US imposed 30% trade tariffs on many imports, the highest for any sub-Saharan African nation, slashed aid and some of its officials boycotted Group of 20 meetings hosted by the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the discovery of the drone part, \u201ccertain people are going to jump up and down,\u201d said Helmoed-Roemer Heitman<\/a>, a Cape Town-based military analyst. \u201cIt is embarrassing. It\u2019s a murky sort of area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa\u2019s government communications department didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his post on X in August, Ukrainian envoy Vlasiuk described the range finder as being an SF-20\/B, a model that Lightware CEO Nilsen said was discontinued in 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSouth Africa on shaky ground<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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