Pictured: Ukrainian NOTA electronic warfare system.
According to Forbes, there are signs that the Ukrainians have deployed a new drone and anti-drone strategy: blow up the radio jammers used by the Russians to intercept Ukrainian drones, and at the same time set up jammers to intercept Russian drones.
It is not for nothing that Russia's offensive on Avdiivka, an important stronghold in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, seems to have stalled.
Ukraine's superiority in electronic warfare seems to have remained unchanged in this area," analyst Donald Hill said, adding that "the number of Ukrainian drone strikes has increased." A lot. The number of Russian drone strikes has also decreased by the same amount. ”
As winter deepened, Russia launched attacks in several areas of the 600-mile front, such as the Diivka area. The Russians send drones, some of which can fly at night, to attack Ukrainian supply lines, hoping to strangle the garrison and force it to withdraw.
The Ukrainians attacked the drones before they launched them to keep the supply lines open.
As small, explosive-laden drones become one of the most dangerous in Russia's broader 22-month-long war against Ukraine, electronic defense against them, as well as unarmed drones used by both sides for reconnaissance, has become indispensable.
Troops with the advantage of radio jammers are able to control the skies over the battlefield. The Ukrainian army is increasingly gaining this advantage.
The obvious interference advantage of the Ukrainian army is not accidental. Kiev has recently chosen to prioritize electronic warfare, which is the traditional advantage of the Moscow army. When the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, recently listed the most urgent needs of the troops, electronic warfare systems are closely linked to the command, anti-mine, anti-artillery and air defense systems.
Every piece of equipment must be protected by electronic warfare," said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, "Every trench, every position of our soldiers must be protected by electronic warfare to analyze the frequency of flight of enemy drones." This is a huge systematic work, a new doctrine of modern scientific and technological warfare. ”
The first signs that Ukraine's "blockage first" approach to operations may be working appeared in late summer, when Kyiv forces were on the left bank of the Dnieper River in the south of Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast in preparation for an upcoming river crossing operation by Ukrainian marines.
The Ukrainians have found a new way to win.
Before the marines boarded the ship to successfully attack the left-bank settlement of Klinki, Ukrainian electronic warfare units, gunners and drone operators attacked Russian jammers and grounded Russian drones. The result: for several months, the Ukrainians took control of the skies over Klinki, helping them hold the narrow bridgehead of the settlement.
Whether they can sustain and scale up depends to a large extent on foreign aid. Many of Ukraine's radio jammers are from the United States, most recently in September, as part of a $600 million aid package.
However, U.S. aid is coming to an end. U.S. ** Biden proposed $61 billion in new funding for Ukraine, but Republicans in the US Congress vetoed the money.