Invisible weapons help Russia turn the tide on the battlefield in Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers train to use first-person drones in Donetsk (Photo: AFP).

Initially, Ukraine noticed that its 155mm Excalibur guided guns suddenly went off course. Next, the guns fired by the HIMARS system also started to go off target, despite being highly rated for their accuracy. The same situation happened with the JDAM guided bombs that the US provided to Ukraine.

It is a rare but important example of Russia's technological edge in a war that is slowly tilting in Moscow's favor.

Along almost the entire front line, an invisible wall of electromagnetic pulse now stretches like a shield over Russian forces. A complex network of radio, infrared and radar signals projected into the skies above the battlefield gives Russian forces unprecedented protection in some areas.

"This is a big problem on the battlefield," said Andrey Liscovich, an expert at the Ukrainian Defense Fund, adding that Russia and Ukraine are in a "cat and mouse" situation as the two sides compete for control of radio waves.

The radio frequency is used to control both first-person attack drones and reconnaissance drones, but is being jammed.

With a range of about 10km, it can intercept drones and can also collect the pilot's location coordinates within a certain range to guide artillery fire in response.

Ukraine deploys drones to the front lines using spectrum analyzers to find nearby jamming frequencies.

The main countermeasure is to reprogram the drone, but this is not simple if the drone is purchased from abroad.

Another tactic is to deploy drones in swarms because not all frequencies can be blocked at once. More sophisticated countermeasures used by NATO countries are largely considered beyond Ukraine’s reach.

Faced with these challenges, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently announced that Ukraine will seek to produce one million drones.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/vu-khi-vo-hinh-giup-nga-lat-nguoc-tinh-the-tren-chien-truong-ukraine-20231229211009558.htm