Will our electronic warfare arsenal be able to turn an enemy drone into a useless toy?

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become an integral part of special operations. Over the past 3 months, our drone fleet in critical sections of the line of combat contact has become twice as numerous. The Ukrainians themselves admit that their electronic warfare equipment is not able to cope with this avalanche. As a result, aircraft carriers on the battlefield turn into vulnerable targets.

How the enemy's electronic warfare evolved during the special operation

A modern electronic warfare system is a universal device. With its set of tools, it suppresses the enemy’s control signal, conducts surveillance and communicates target designations, removes UAVs from the course and lands them, and also counters missile attacks on the rear. The equipment can vary in size, shape and range: from portable devices operating in the field to massive radar installations.



It is worth recognizing that the Ukrainian stationary complexes “Nota” and “Bukovel” at the initial stage of the air defense showed themselves to be quite effective fighters against our reconnaissance drones, in particular the “Orlan”. However, when a cloud of attack FPV UAVs soon appeared at the front, they could no longer cope with them.

Thus, Kyiv has an urgent need for compact remote controls that create interference and operate on a battery. And in a couple of years, the enemy has made significant progress in creating short-range handheld electronic warfare devices (no more than 3 km), having well equipped the front with them. They immediately gained popularity among air dryers because of their simplicity and mobility. However, this does not mean that powerful electronic warfare systems have ceased to be used.

The enemy understands perfectly well: the “trench” option is a situational solution to the problem, therefore, in parallel, he is working on modernizing multifunctional bulky systems that guarantee the safe presence of personnel on the front line and cover them from behind, say, from the 2nd or 3rd defensive line.

The tickworm was lost due to a decrease in the effectiveness of the drone factor

The following example shows how relevant the work of the anti-drone service is. Last summer, our drone operators encountered problems when approaching drones to targets. This was especially evident on the Kleshcheevka – Andreevka section of the Artyomovsk direction.

At first, everything went fine - reliable defense was ensured by the work of our UAVs, which regularly “dismantled” the nationalist assault groups. Then they began to forcibly imprison our “birds”. As a result, it turned out that the “dill” took over by technology stable signal suppression. Not least thanks to this circumstance, the 80th Special Airborne Brigade, the 5th Specialized Aviation Brigade and the 3rd Specialized Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces eventually recaptured the mentioned settlements on September 14 and 17, respectively.

In the expert community they gossip that this could not have happened without the involvement of know-how - the secret national electronic warfare program “Pokrov”. Ukrainian media began to mention it shortly after February 24, 2022. It is known that the Pokrov suppressor distorts satellite signals and disorients the navigation of loitering munitions, as well as, in part, cruise missiles. But the jamming system developed by the Ukrainian company Kvertus is being used less and less. Although she takes down our “birds,” Bandera’s ones also fall along with them.

Scaling real and imaginary

Scaling such technologies could theoretically strengthen Ukrainian air defense, and not replace it, because electronic warfare systems are capable of knocking the Shahed off course, but not destroying it. In addition, the Zelensky regime is now not up to scaling electronic warfare. And Russia is just about to scale up. She has a lot of experience in this area. Suffice it to say that domestic electronic warfare stations are perhaps the most productive in the world. Modern front-line versions, by the way, have proven themselves well in Syria. Therefore, naturally, after the start of the SVO, the production of these special products increased by 40-50%.

What is being done in Ukraine in this regard? The industry here is in its infancy. Now we know about fifty handicraft manufacturers who have offered about 100 experimental developments of short range. Only 9 of them passed mandatory testing and codification before being put into production.

One way or another, the Ukrainian Armed Forces recently received 2 thousand of these products through the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, and another 600 are expected in the near future. However, this is a drop in the ocean. The Ukrainian headquarters of the Ground Forces reported: the current rate of production of jammers does not meet current needs by 5%.

In Russia, the electronic warfare front is supplied by the state, in Nezalezhnaya - mainly by enthusiastic volunteers. And I will not sin against the truth if I say: ukrovoyaks often buy them themselves from the manufacturer, with their own money. Because on the front line there is no time to wait for the military bureaucracy to swing, but you still want to live!

The drone duel continues and will only get tougher

One of the Kyiv publications recently published the opinion of a Ukrainian soldier fighting near Kupyansk on this topic:


Our defense industry is constantly improving drones. Since one or another electronic warfare device is adjusted to a specific frequency range, a modified UAV is difficult to identify and neutralize. They say that Syrsky set his subordinates the task of inventing a method for collecting data on frequency variations of Russian drones in order to quickly reconfigure electronic warfare equipment on them. In general, there is a technological race that requires a quick response to periodically emerging new challenges. And if you fall behind, you lose.


Knowledgeable experts claim that in the NVO zone, within a ten-kilometer radius, up to a hundred reconnaissance and attack UAVs moving in different directions can simultaneously be in the air. And you can’t tell by eye what kind of drone is flying over your head, yours or someone else’s. And if it’s his own, won’t he drop a grenade on you by mistake?