Image: Russian jamming truck from www.mil.ru
What’s New: Interesting article about the back and forth electronic warfare between Ukraine and Russia.
Why It’s Important: It is especially important when GPS/GNSS gets jammed (denied), or spoofed (hacked). On both sides impacted systems include:
- Land mobile radios
- Common Operational Pictures
- Drone operations
- Precision weapons
- Navigation for ground troops and all vehicles
- Logistics
What Else to Know: Russia has one or more high power terrestrial PNT sources it could use when signals from space are not available.
- No information is publicly available about how well these are incorporated into their military systems.
In the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, experts were surprised at how poorly the Russian army’s electronic warfare units performed. But nearly 18 months later they are causing significant problems for Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
“Use single rounds,” whispers a Ukrainian soldier hiding behind a wall near the eastern front line. “This way we will be able to last till the morning [if they come closer].”
The soldier’s call-sign is Alain Delon, like the famous French film star of the 1970s. And like something from a spy movie, he is part of a lightly armed team of electronic intelligence officers – a high-priority target for the Russian army.
Alain fears Russian troops may have spotted their antenna and started heading for their base. He decides to change position. The key in electronic warfare is being invisible to the enemy.
