The Russian systems were “very ineffective, very disorganized,” Clark tells WIRED. Their small number of large systems, Clark says, “was really useless in combat.”
Moscow’s strategy assumed that there would be a static war zone. Previously, they would use the Infauna, a heavily armored vehicle that directs radio communications. Besides, about 15 kilometers from the front lines, they would deploy Leer-3, a six-wheeled truck capable of not only connecting mobile phone networks but intercepting communications and sending SMS to nearby mobile phones. What’s more, from a range of 180 miles, the fire truck-sized Krasukha-4 will jam airborne sensors.
“When you get closer to the front, you get an electronic climate,” Clark said. “Your GPS won’t work, your cell phone won’t work, your Starlink won’t work.”
This electromagnetic no-man’s land is what happens when you “blow up,” Clark explained. But there is a big trade-off, he says. Spectrum hopping requires more power, as does jamming over a wide geographic area. If the system has more power, it should be bigger. So you can disrupt all communications at the target location, or some remote communications—but not both.
Move Fast and Jam Things
The Russian army was marred, early in the war, by poor communications, poor planning, and a general laziness to adapt. Still, it was a great 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.
Ukraine is therefore developing two complementary strategies: to produce a large volume of cheap EW solutions, and to make them repeatable and flexible.
Ukraine’s Bukovel-AD anti-drone system, for example, fits neatly into the back of a truck. The Eter system, the size of a suitcase, can detect jamming signals from Russian EW systems—allowing Ukraine to target them with weapons. Ukrainian electronic warfare company Kvertus now produces 15 different anti-drone systems—from drone-jamming backpacks to stationary devices that can be mounted on radio towers to avoid incoming UAVs.
When full-scale war began in 2022, Kvertus had one product: a shoulder-mounted anti-drone gun, such as the EDM4S. “In 2022, [we were producing] tens of machines,” Yaroslav Filimonov, CEO of Kvertus told me when we sat down in his Kyiv offices in March. “In 2023 there were hundreds. Now? Thousands.”
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