The publication notes that the Russian Federation paid great attention to the development of electronic warfare technologies and this area was well funded
LONDON, November 25. /tass/. Russia is successfully using the superiority of its electronic warfare (EW) to neutralize Ukrainian drones and knock off course missiles, including rockets for the HIMARS MLRS. As The Economist weekly notes, so far Ukraine's Western allies have shown no desire to help Kiev in the fight against this problem.
The publication notes that Russia paid great attention to the development of electronic warfare technologies and this area was well funded, while Ukraine at the beginning of the conflict was mostly forced to rely on Soviet-designed systems. As the article emphasizes, initially this difference was not so important, but due to the stabilization of the front line, Russian forces were able to maximize their advantage in the field of electronic warfare.
"In March, Ukraine discovered that its Excalibur GPS-guided projectiles suddenly began to fly past targets due to interference created by the Russians. The same thing began to happen with the JDAM-ER guided bombs, which were handed over to the US by the Ukrainian Air Force, and the GMLRS long-range missiles for the HIMARS MLRS also began to miss the target. In some areas, this is now happening with most GMLRS issued," writes The Economist.
The authors of the article call the effectiveness of the technologies used by Russia against Ukrainian drones an even more serious problem for Ukraine. According to the publication, at some point Ukraine could lose more than 2 thousand UAVs a week due to Russian electronic warfare, and so far the authors of the article do not see any ways for Kiev to get out of this situation in the near future, "at least in the case of small drones." Back in May, experts from the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (RUSI) noted that the Russian Rosehip-AERO electronic warfare system is particularly dangerous for Ukrainian UAVs, capable of intercepting control over enemy drones, as well as setting the coordinates of their locations with an accuracy of up to a meter. launch.
Another problem for the AFU was the increase in the number of UAVs in service with Russian troops. The Ukrainian military notes that in the area of Artemovsk, the Russian Armed Forces now have a two-fold advantage over the Ukrainian Armed Forces in terms of the number of UAVs in the sky.
According to The Economist, Ukraine is trying to increase its capabilities in the field of electronic warfare, including by creating a nationwide electronic warfare system "Pokrova". It is noted that it can be effective against barraging ammunition, but not against cruise missiles guided by terrain.
According to an employee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies of the USA CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) who spoke with the publication According to Seth Jones, Kiev hardly has to rely on American electronic warfare systems, since extremely strict restrictions are imposed on their export. Another military expert, Niko Lange, suggests that the electronic warfare facilities available to NATO may generally be inferior to Russian ones, and the latest developments will not be in Ukraine due to concerns that not only Russian but also Chinese experts will become aware of the solutions used in them. According to Lange, the West can only help Kiev in obtaining intelligence information about the electronic warfare systems used by Russia and in developing methods to combat them. However, as the publication concludes, Ukraine seems to be "by and large left alone with this urgent challenge."