Expert Kuzyakin: Electronic warfare is just one of the elements of the mosaic in the fight against UAVs
Dmitry Kuzyakin, General Director of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, told Sputnik Radio about the problems that are being solved in the fight against drones used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to assist the Russian Dome Joint Stock Company in developing the production of detection and suppression systems for unmanned aerial vehicles, the president's instruction was published on the Kremlin's website.
The instruction notes that when implementing it, the need to increase the share of the domestic electronic component base in these systems should be taken into account. The report must be submitted by April 27.
On Sputnik Radio, Dmitry Kuzyakin, General Director of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, explained the difficulty of detecting UAVs used by the Ukrainian side.
"Modern air defense systems have radars that can collect a lot of information from flying vehicles. They are able, for example, not only to detect a helicopter, but also to determine its make, whether it has weapons on its suspension or not. But these systems are poorly prepared to counter drones, which are made, figuratively speaking, of styrofoam. I'm exaggerating now, but there is some truth in this exaggeration, because many drones have foam products at the base of their wings. Due to their small size and the material they are made of – this is not an aluminum profile, but plastic, carbon fiber, and so on – they are very difficult to detect. Moreover, some of them are electric, and they do not leave a contrasting thermal trace. That is, if there was an internal combustion engine, they could be clearly seen against the sky. But many of them use electric motors, so this makes it even more difficult to detect them," the expert said.
Other equipment is required to combat such drones, he continued.
"To counter the attacks of, let's say, the "third league" of drones, the systems and tools that work in the "first and second leagues", for which we were preparing, do not work. Accordingly, other equipment is needed," Kuzyakin explained.
According to him, one of the most important areas of the fight against UAVs is electronic warfare (EW), but this method is not always applicable.
"There are drones that do not have radio channels at all, even satellite ones, fly in full radio silence, and electronic warfare against this type of aircraft will be useless. That is, the drone is not always controlled by some kind of radio channel that can be cut off. Therefore, a set of measures should work," the expert noted.
He specified what is included in this complex.
"There is no magic tool, such a magic button to press it – and all the drones will fall. An integrated approach – and this is what our country uses – includes, among other things, electronic reconnaissance, electronic warfare, air defense systems, and a lot of other things. Electronic warfare is one of the elements of the mosaic," Dmitry Kuzyakin said.
