Russian Norsi-Trans will begin producing servers and computers based on Chinese Loongson processors

The Russian Norsi-Trans will begin producing data storage systems (DSS), servers and computers based on Chinese Loongson processors. Other manufacturers are also considering integrating them into their electronics. According to market participants, the decision of Chinese partners to allow the import of processors into the Russian Federation is due to Loongson falling under US blocking sanctions. Domestic processor developers do not see themselves as a threat in Chinese products. However, experts believe that the Russian Federation needs to seek “mirror access” to the market and technologies from the PRC.

Norsi-Trans CEO Sergei Ovchinnikov told Kommersant that at the Microelectronics forum (held in Sochi from October 9 to 14), the company will announce the start of production of servers, data storage systems, personal computers and laptops using Chinese Loongson processors. The partner of Norsi-Trans will be Basalt SPO (developer of the Viola OS), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company Alexey Smirnov told Kommersant. It adapts Viola OS for Loongson processors.

According to Mr. Ovchinnikov, the company has already purchased about 100 Loongson processors, on which a test batch of equipment will be produced. Norsi-Trans plans to supply it to government and corporate customers, including it in the register of Russian electronics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Executive Director of the consortium of Russian developers of data storage systems (RosSHD, includes MCST, Norsi-Trans, Aerodisk, Promobit, etc.) Oleg Izumrudov clarified that Russian companies will purchase Loongson 5000 series chips (implemented 12 nm process technology), comparable in performance to the tenth generation Intel Core i5.

Loongson was founded in 2002 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to create an alternative to American processors from Intel and AMD. Initially, the chips were developed on the MIPS architecture (the patents belong to the British ARM). Kommersant was unable to find out which factories produced these processors. In the spring of 2021, the corporation introduced the Loongson Instruction Set Architecture (LoongArch) processor architecture, compatible with programs written for Intel (X86) and AMD (ARM), which reduced the corporation’s dependence on foreign licensors. A Kommersant market source suggests that Loongson processors are produced at the Chinese SMIC factory.

At the end of 2022, the Chinese government banned the supply of processors with the LoongArch architecture due to the strategic importance of the technology, which is also used in the Chinese military-industrial complex (see Kommersant on December 13). Oleg Izumrudov clarified that the decision of Chinese developers to resume supplies to the Russian Federation is due to the fact that in March the United States began to add Chinese organizations to the sanctions list (Loongson entered the SDN list in March): “Previously, export restrictions were caused precisely by a reluctance to fall under sanctions “

Norsi-Trans is not the only Russian manufacturer that plans to produce equipment using Loongson chips. Promobit (which produces computer equipment under the Bitblaze brand) is also implementing a similar project, its CEO Maxim Koposov told Kommersant: “We are ready to supplement the product portfolio with processors with the LoongArch architecture.”

IVK General Director Grigory Sizonenko believes that, despite the continued supply of Intel processors through parallel imports, domestic manufacturers need to switch to alternative components, including Chinese ones. “Due to the fact that the X86 and ARM architecture is controlled by the American and British governments, there is always a threat of the processor being disabled or not working correctly. Therefore, Loongson chips look more attractive,” explains Mr. Sizonenko, emphasizing that in parallel “it is necessary to actively develop our own processors.” However, the production of processors of Russian design in foreign factories is still impossible, notes the founder of the Elvis Research and Production Center Yaroslav Petrichkovich, and this should not be expected in the near future.

General Director of Baikal Electronics (Baikal processors) Andrey Evdokimov emphasizes that the appearance of equipment based on Chinese processors will not affect domestic developments. However, Russoft President Valentin Makarov believes that cooperation with the Chinese microelectronics vendor “does not remove the risk of technological dependence on foreign technologies for Russian companies.” “We will simply replace the dependence on American processors with the same dependence on Chinese ones,” he believes. “Therefore, it is necessary to agree with Chinese partners on mirror access of Russian IT products to the Chinese market or access to Chinese technologies.”

Timofey Kornev