The Russian Technology Corporation (Rostec) said: The Russian army uses almost all available electronic warfare systems and complexes to participate in special military operations in Ukraine . In fact, the Ukrainian battlefield has become the largest training ground for the Russian army’s electronic forces. Russian electronic warfare systems and complexes have demonstrated their combat effectiveness and operational reliability.
It is understandable that the Russian electronic warfare force is a very "special" force and is under the highest confidentiality system. The concept of network-centric warfare implemented today is considered the key to modern electronic warfare .
The modern battlefield provides electronic warfare with the opportunity to successfully perform the widest and very "specific" tasks, including:
- suppress radio communications, ensure coordination of force management;
- gain dominance in the ethernet;
- disrupt the enemy electronic systems and complexes;
– functional interruption (up to complete failure) of troops and fire command and control systems, leading to a general decrease in the efficiency of the use of military equipment;
– protection of one’s own troops (weapons) command and control systems from enemy electronics Influence.
At present, without the participation of electronic warfare equipment, it is impossible to carry out reconnaissance operations, organize air defense of strategically important facilities, and take countermeasures. Of course, it is absolutely impossible to conduct efficient combat operations at the modern level without electronic warfare. This argument has been more successfully confirmed in Russia's special military operations.
The use of modern electronic warfare drones equipped to receive and forward information has also increased a lot. In the future, it will only grow. In this case, according to the head of the electronic warfare force, Lieutenant General Yuri Rastochkin, the use of electronic warfare systems in combination with high-precision missiles works surprisingly well.
According to the US "Military Observer", the Ukrainian army prefers to use drones when conducting tactical reconnaissance operations. In this context, the Ukrainian military drones are most afraid of interference from Russian electronic warfare equipment, which prevents the reconnaissance and attack of drones. Small drones used by the Ukrainian military and nationalists for reconnaissance purposes are often shot down by Russian REX-1 anti-drone guns. The REX-1 is a rifle-like man-portable jammer developed by a subsidiary of the Kalashnikov Group and debuted at a Russian defense exhibition in 2017. It has no kinetic kill mechanism and relies on the jammer's ability to cut off the drone's communications and autonomous navigation capabilities from its operator to neutralize the threat.
It operates in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz ranges commonly associated with wireless and mobile phone operations and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as Beidou , Galileo, GLONASS and Global Positioning System .
In order to suppress more advanced drones, such as NATO strategic drones, conducting reconnaissance activities in the Black Sea itself has electronic warfare complexes and systems. One of the most powerful means of Russian electronic warfare, whose functionality allows to deprive communications, navigation and disable avionics of aircraft and surface ships (not to mention drones), the most powerful is the short-wave coastal electronic warfare complex " Murmansk-BN". This electronic warfare system is capable of jamming shortwave signals (frequency from 3 MHz to 30 MHz) within a range of 5,000 kilometers. Its low-frequency extension antenna covers an area of 20 football fields, and its electronic mast height is 32 meters..
The coverage of such a complex installed on the Crimean peninsula reaches even the Mediterranean , not to mention Ukraine proper.
It is obvious that a single drone is not a priority target of an electronic warfare complex as powerful as Murmansk-BN. However, in the Russian weapons arsenal, there are several systems with equally high combat effectiveness levels.
First of all, this is the jamming station of "Quicksilver-BM" (covering a combat area of 20-50 hectares), electronic warfare systems of the Krasukha series and 1L267 "Moscow-1". The latter two severely disable the functionality of any enemy offensive or defensive weapons within their area of operations.
Each US military drone costs US$8 million. NATO experts believe that modern Russian systems and electronic warfare systems can "interfere with the control channels of drones, causing US drones to be captured or irreparably lost.
In addition, Pentagon sources pointed out that the combat effectiveness of the U.S. "miracle weapon" Switchblade Kamikaze drone is unprecedentedly low, with a combat effectiveness rate of 20%. It is worth noting that this is inconsistent with the propaganda, mainly because the Russian army is strong. Successful interference of long-range electronic warfare systems.
Russia also dispatched the " Tirada" ground-based anti-satellite communication system. According to the US website, Tirada -2 can be used to interfere with the uplink of the communication satellite . , by forcing the satellite to use all its power to fight jamming signals, thereby interrupting the ability of signal relay, and may even cause permanent damage.
Of course, the Russian army must have other unexposed electronic warfare operations on the battlefield.
