Clark told WIRED that Russian systems “are not very mobile, not very distributed.” Their relatively small number of major systems “are not really relevant in a fight,” Clark said.
Moscow's strategy assumes a relatively stable battle space. Along the front, they will deploy underwater animalsa heavily armored vehicle aimed at radio communications targets. Further afield, about 15 miles from the front lines, they would send forces Learn-3a six-wheeled truck is capable of not only jamming cellular networks, but also blocking communications and even Forward SMS messages to nearby mobile phones. Further, from a distance of about 180 miles, the fire truck had dimensions Krasukha-4 will disturb the airborne sensors.
“As you get closer to the front, you get electronic weather,” Clark said. “Your GPS isn't working, your cell phone isn't working, your Starlink isn't working.”
This electromagnetic no-man's land is what happens when you “smash the barrier,” Clark explains. But there is a big trade-off, he said. Full-spectrum jamming requires more power, as does jamming over a wider geographic area. The more power a system has, the larger it must be. So you can disrupt all communications in a targeted area or some communications further away—but not necessarily both.
Move fast and jam everything
The Russian military from the beginning of the war was compromised by poor communications, poorer planning, and slowness to adapt. Still, it's off to a good start. “Unfortunately, the enemy has a numerical and material advantage,” a representative of UP Innovations, a Ukrainian defense technology startup, told WIRED in a written statement.
So Ukraine has developed two complementary strategies: mass-produce cheaper EW solutions and make them repeatable and adaptable.
For example, Ukraine's Bukovel-AD anti-drone system fits comfortably on the back of a pickup truck. the eter The system, about the size of a suitcase, can detect jamming signals from Russian EW systems, allowing Ukraine to target them with artillery. Ukrainian electronic warfare company Kvertus currently produces 15 different anti-drone systems, from drone jamming backpacks to fixed devices that can be installed on radio towers to stop incoming drones.
When full-scale war begins in 2022, Kvertus has a product: a shoulder-mounted anti-drone gun, like the EDM4S. “In 2022, (we produced) dozens of devices,” Kvertus CEO Yaroslav Filimonov told me when we sat down at his Kyiv office this March. “By 2023, this number will be in the hundreds. Currently? That's thousands.”