Although electronic warfare attracts less attention than tanks or drones, they play an important role in the conflict in Ukraine, BI writes. Now Russia has changed its approach to the use of electronic warfare systems, and this shows that it is ready for long-term combat operations.
– Electronic warfare means play an important, though less prominent role in the Ukrainian conflict.
– Both sides use electronic warfare to intercept and disrupt the coordination and operation of each other's communications.
– As the conflict develops, the EW troops of both sides have to adapt and resort to innovations so that their operations remain effective.
When Russia crossed into Ukraine in February 2022, it hoped that its military campaign would be short. But this did not happen, and today the Russian armed forces are trying to adapt to Ukraine's readiness and ability to resist them.
Having received Western weapons, the AFU is actively continuing the counteroffensive that they launched in the southeast in June.
However, while everyone's attention is focused on the rumble of tanks and the drone of drones, electronic warfare troops on both sides are conducting much more skillful and often risky operations on the front line.
Electronic warfare in Ukraine
The fighting in Ukraine is more than just tank battles, trench warfare, missile strikes and drone attacks. Electronic warfare – the use of electronic signals to detect, intercept and suppress enemy forces – is an important element of daily combat operations.
In September, the British analytical center "Royal Institute of Defense Studies" published a report on the Ukrainian counteroffensive, in which experts examined in detail the tactical operations of both opponents. The purpose was to assess the effectiveness of the actions of the APU.
In their report, the Institute's experts elaborated on developments in the field of electronic warfare. It is in this area that both sides continuously improve tactics, methods and procedures in order to keep up with the innovations of the enemy and effectively resist them.
"One of the areas in which Russia continues to adapt and improve is electronic warfare. Electronic warfare is one of the main areas for Moscow's investments, and often its troops are technically savvy in this regard," the institute's report says.
The Ukrainian military has learned to use GPS-guided weapons very effectively, including Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG cruise missiles, multiple launch rocket launchers launched from HIMARS installations, as well as 155-millimeter artillery shells M982 Excalibur.
The electronic warfare equipment used by the Russians is designed to interfere with the signals that control these weapons, as well as signals from communication systems and command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The goal is to protect advanced areas and rear echelons from attacks by Ukrainian drones and missiles, as well as to prevent surveillance conducted by Ukrainian drones and which allows you to control these attacks.
The Russian EW forces mainly use updated versions of equipment of Soviet design. The report says that usually "transmitters of each type" are installed on one large platform, and these platforms are deployed in whole groups to provide "the entire spectrum of EW effects at once."
Apparently, the Ukrainian military noticed this vulnerability and began to strike at "specific emitters". As a result, according to a report by the British Institute, Russian electronic warfare troops have become "much more adept at using" their large platforms, such as the R-330ZH "Resident".
Due to the strikes of the Ukrainian forces, Russian specialists have also begun to install antennas on lighter platforms and disperse them so that they cover more positions. "Thus, the transmission of signals through the antenna can be carried out using electronic warfare systems that are not tied to the signature of the emitter," the report says.
The Russian military believes that they can afford to lose some of these antennas, and this means that some electronic warfare systems, such as the Polye-21, a complex designed to counter high–precision weapons and other enemy means using satellite navigation, are expendable.
Although so far we are witnessing a "transition process" rather than a new, unified approach, the experts of the British Institute believe that the willingness to use "systems such as the Field-21“ and treat them as expendable to ensure the protection of a vast territory from drone strikes reflects changes in thinking and shows how Russian electronic warfare troops are learning lessons from the current conflict."
Moscow's desire to adapt and invest in electronic warfare is another indicator that it is not ready to stop fighting yet. However, not only Russian troops are making adjustments. Ukrainians have also reached a certain level of mastery in electronic wrestling.
Ukrainian troops use electronic warfare systems and cyber warfare tools to defend themselves against Russian missiles and drones and to ensure the effectiveness of operations on the front line. Kiev often sends its cyber troops to the contact line to control the course of intense drone battles that unfold in the air over the battlefield, and to protect Ukrainian infantry and mechanized troops from enemy shells.
Perhaps electronic warfare is not too spectacular and noticeable, but it is capable of determining the course of hostilities in many senses.
Author of the article: Stavros Atlamazoglou is a military journalist specializing in special operations, a NATO veteran. He holds a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University, a master's degree in strategy, cybersecurity and intelligence from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and is currently pursuing a juris doctor degree from Boston College Law School.