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Both Russia and Ukraine rely on electronic warfare in the ongoing fighting.
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Investing in such capabilities is critical because the battlefield is full of threats, from drones to precision munitions.
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A senior Ukrainian official said that “every trench” needs tools for short-range electronic warfare.
Russia and Ukraine have relied heavily on electronic warfare tactics throughout the conflict, leaning on cheap – but highly effective – technology to disrupt the targeting process of precision weapons such as attack drones and guided munitions.
Now that the battlefield is full of such threats, especially the drones that threaten everything that moves, the need for this is great electronic warfare systems is huge. A senior Ukrainian official said Kiev has invested extensively in exploiting these capabilities so they can be sent to the front lines.
“In terms of developing EW systems, we are now doing the same thing we did with drones: scaling up domestic production,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, explained in translated comments shared with Business Insider.
“To do this, we have started identifying manufacturing needs, opportunities and challenges,” he said, adding: “We are liberating the conditions so that more private companies can engage, produce and compete. And it works. We are already seeing results. .”
Electronic warfare includes a variety of tools, practices and techniques designed to disrupt communications, drown out frequencies in noise and disrupt information from satellite navigation systems, potentially cutting the connection between a drone and its operator or throwing a weapon off course.
“Several EW instruments are needed to carry out strategic missions, but there is also a huge need for so-called ‘close-range’ EW,” Fedorov said. “In other words, every trench needs its EW device. “
In response to this urgency, Kyiv acquired 2,000 short-range electronic warfare devices in the spring with the help of UNITED24, a Ukrainian government initiative that has fueled Kyiv’s war effort by raising money to purchase weapons. Fedorov said: “This market is developing very quickly.”
Short-range electronic warfare systems would be especially useful against enemy drones, especially the small quadcopters that perform reconnaissance and attack missions. These drones have been a dominant force on the battlefield.
Both Russia and Ukraine have used it Explosive-laden first-person-view drones as a cheap way to deliver precision strikes against enemy personnel, equipment, armor and positions – including in trenches, where some of the most brutal fighting has taken place.
Fedorov said that the pace of the technology war in Ukraine is very fast, and new developments have a short production and life cycle.
This trend especially affects drones, he said, as there is a constant need to adapt these systems to current electronic warfare conditions and look for more efficient ways to use them on the battlefield.
“Technology itself is important, but the use of technology has a huge impact,” Fedorov said. “You can have the best drone, but what’s the point if it can’t fly under electronic warfare?”
Partner countries such as the US take note of Ukraine’s achievements in this area. For example, at a media event last month, US military acquisition chief Doug Bush praised Kyiv as a “highly advanced, highly effective electronic warfare force.”
“They’re doing some pretty amazing things – some with our help, some on their own,” Bush added. “So it’s a constant back and forth.”
The US is also closely studying the application of electronic warfare in the conflict and trying to learn lessons for itself as the Pentagon looks at what kind of adjustments it should allow for a future fight against a superpower like Russia or China. .
“What we’ve seen in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is more EW than we’ve ever seen before,” Col. Nicole Petrucci, commander of the U.S. Space Force, said at an event in April. according to to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
“We’ve been studying this very carefully to see what’s going on, to see how we can or can’t help — and that’s unofficial, just because we’re trying to see what the environment looked like,” Petrucci added to.
Meanwhile, after watching the drone war in Ukraine, the US military has sprung into action training courses to teach service employees how to use short-range electronic warfare systems – like the ones Fedorov mentioned – to engage small unmanned systems on the battlefield.
Read the original article Business insider