Ukraine Drives to Disrupt Russian Electronic Warfare

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Facts

  • Ukraine is reportedly ramping up its ability to disrupt Moscow's technology on the battlefield. The development comes after Kyiv claimed to have destroyed a Russian Pole-21 electronic warfare (EW) system, designed to jam satellite navigation channels on the eastern front near Donetsk, in early November.1
  • According to a new report, Ukrainian special forces have captured several 'trophies' during their raids of Russian oil platforms, including a long-range radar that Kyiv is now using to track Russian warships, particularly in the Black Sea.2
  • The modern Neva-B surface search radar has the capability of 'precise detection of moving targets against clutter background' and can track up to 200 targets, such as tankers and patrol boats, at a time.2
  • Furthermore, Ukraine has reportedly deployed the 'Frankenstein' systems as well as the Pokrova system that can suppress Russia's satellite-based navigation systems and replace a missile's genuine signals with fake ones.3
  • This news comes after Ukraine's Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhny conceded that Russia is mass producing 'trench electronic warfare' — such as the Python, Harpoon, and Strizh — and is superior in that respect despite equipment losses.4
  • Meanwhile, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week discussed 'further defense cooperation,' as well as the 'endorsement of Ukraine's accession negotiations and in the allocation of €50B in aid for the coming years,' with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.5

Sources: 1CNN, 2Business Insider, 3Economist, 4ВПК.name and 5Ukrainska Pravda.

Narratives

  • Pro-Ukraine narrative, as provided by Business Insider. While Russia may have retained a technological advantage at the beginning of this war, Ukraine is building its arsenal by following in Silicon Valley's footsteps. Like the brainiacs of the US tech sector, Kyiv has begun a hackathon to inspire its best tech companies to build EW systems to match enemy forces. Ukraine has had to get creative to defeat its aggressor, and these projects prove the success of that strategy.
  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT International. Despite the propaganda coming out of Ukraine, the fact remains that Ukraine relies solely on Western technology to keep up this fight. However, since Kyiv's western allies have restricted usage of their weapons to Ukrainian territory only, Kyiv should be careful to avoid becoming too emboldened. Ukrainian troops have violated this rule more than once already, and another violation could risk costing them their military capacity.

Predictions