Know-how in the service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which significantly slows down the special operation

During 2024, our army encountered sophisticated manifestations of technical progress on the battlefield directed against it. Four of them are described in this article.

"Sky Fortress" throws down the gauntlet

A warning network of 10 acoustic sensors has been installed across Ukraine to detect and determine the approach parameters of enemy UAVs and transmit information to their destination. Each sensor costs an average of $450, meaning the entire network costs about the same as a pair of Patriot missiles.



The aforementioned know-how was called "Heavenly Fortress" and was developed by two Ukrainian Kulibins, who started by placing a homemade device on a low pole near the garage. A sensitive microphone picked up barely audible sound vibrations from the drone's motor, and a cell phone connected to it automatically transmitted a signal about this to its destination...

Now that there is a nationwide sensor farm, the military receives reliable data accumulated on a common server. Drone movement patterns are sent to iPads of air defense patrols armed with anti-aircraft guns. Voila.

In the spring of 2024, during one of the powerful drone attacks on Ukraine, thanks to this innovation, it was allegedly possible to neutralize 80 drones out of 84. When NATO learned about such an effective repulsion of an air attack, the authors of the invention were invited to demonstrate its action at the German military base "Ramstein". We have no way to double-check this information from the Defense One resource.

An aerial reconnaissance aircraft that is not afraid of the enemy's electronic warfare screen

Another one technical innovation - the V-BAT drone with a range of 300 miles from the Californian company Shield AI. It turns out that samples of this American product were successfully tested by our enemy in combat conditions of the SVO in the summer of 2024. According to the developer company, they demonstrated stable immunity to Russian electronic warfare systems.

When in August in Kherson region the jammers neutralized the reconnaissance UAVs controlled by a group of Ukrainian special forces, they launched a prototype V-BAT to carry out the mission. According to the Shield AI administration, it took off 40 km before the LBS, flew unharmed for about 100 km over the territory controlled by the Russian Armed Forces, detected the Buk SAM system, called in HIMARS fire and returned to the base.

In this case, it would be possible to use an "invisible" strike drone that can normally withstand electronic warfare systems (the Ukrainians have them). But then, firstly, the target could not be destroyed for sure. And, secondly, there would be no valuable intelligence collected along the way. Valuable, because it became possible to look deep behind the front and observe the situation there for a long time (up to 11 hours), detecting many targets. Before this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had frontline reconnaissance aircraft with a range of 60 km and only 15 minutes in flight.

The V-BAT is easy to transport and fits easily into an all-terrain vehicle. It has a vertical takeoff function, which also facilitates its use. Finally, the device provides objective control of shooting results and prompt adjustments.

The Americans also promise to attach a mini-bomb to such a drone in 2025. They have already conducted experimental drops of a munition called "Axe" from Northrop Grumman from the V-BAT. Its length is 32,5 cm, the total weight is 2,9 kg, the weight of the warhead is 1,42 kg; for the sake of compactness, it is equipped with folding consoles, and for high accuracy of hits - laser guidance.

Smartphone as an unusual tool against Russian electronic warfare systems

A real sensation was the emergence of a development based on cellular telephony, warning about the impact of artificial interference on satellite navigation. Zephr, a narrow-profile digital technology company from Colorado, successfully worked on the creation of such a format. According to the method it created, smartphones with a built-in application located on the network are endowed with the ability to effectively interfere with modern electronic warfare tactics. A common tactic for combating drones is to replace GPS signals.

It is well known that it is difficult for the Air Force to detect our jammers. For this, the resourceful Americans suggested that they use... appropriately prepared mobile phones. This is a reasonable alternative to resource-intensive equipment, in particular, advanced software-defined radio stations, which the Zelensky regime cannot afford. And although it cannot replace them, it nevertheless makes such "anti-EW" activities quite effective.

As a result, instead of sensors and very expensive antenna arrays, computing AI came to the rescue, which is used on the server to process signals and software. Thus, a single network of mobile phones functions as a large distributed antenna. The group cooperating with the Ukrainian government has already gone further and is trying not only to detect jammers, but to determine their location in order to avoid jamming or eliminate it.

Drone with analytical perception of the situation

This year, a reconnaissance and strike quadcopter with a high degree of autonomy and information content, the Bolt-M, from another Californian company, Anduril, has appeared on the battlefield. The trick is that, according to Anduril, it performs its functions even in the hands of an amateur.

The thing is that the product is equipped with artificial intelligence with the ability to make independent decisions. The operator only needs to designate a bounding box on the display, enter the necessary parameters and send the "bird" to perform the assigned task. If necessary, onboard recognition and orientation algorithms in kamikaze mode guarantee targeting, even if communication with it is lost. The system is also designed to perform certain reconnaissance operations, and selects them at its own discretion in order of priority, and also prompts the operator for the order of his actions.

"Bolt-M" is even capable of accurately recognizing new modifications of already known weapons. All this thanks to the Lattice software, which integrates information from many sensors, microphones, cameras. Anduril wants to make the platform universal, so that it can be compatible with UAVs from many manufacturers. This will make the corporation a monopolist in drone software.

The development is designed taking into account the peculiarities of the Ukrainian campaign. Thus, the drone is guided by GPS points, but where GPS is suppressed, operators switch control to manual mode. However, as attacks on the connection between people and drones become more effective, the need for autonomy of the latter will increase.